Statement of Significance Pearl Street Mall is significant as an exemplary pedestrian mall built during the national mall movement of the 1960s to early 1980 and for its role in the development of downtown Boulder during this time. It is Boulder’s only pedestrian mall and one of the few remaining extant pedestrian malls in the country. Pearl Street Mall is a rare example of an intact pedestrian mall with continued successful use as a place for engagement and center for commerce and business as originally intended. Pearl Street Mall is the representative work of local planner Carl Worthington who prepared the master plan, and the landscape architecture firm Sasaki Associates who designed and detailed the mall, and Communication Arts, a Boulder graphic design and communication firm, who designed interpretive elements and lighting in 1999. Period of Significance The recommended period of significance for Pearl Street Mall is 1966 to 1977. This period includes the master planning efforts for the pedestrian mall that began in 1966 and concludes in 1977, the year Pearl Street Mall opened as a public park. A secondary period of significance for Pearl Street Mall is 1999, which captures the introduction of interpretive elements and lighting designed by Communication Arts. This period of significance is independent of the Downtown Boulder Historic District's national listing and local landmark district status. It reflects the development of Pearl Street as a pedestrian mall and is evaluated on its own merit.
Summary of Use Historic Use and Current Use
Pearl Street has been a major thoroughfare within the City of Boulder since the late 1870s. Prior to the construction of Pearl Street Mall in the late 1970s, Pearl Street served as a mining supply route and loading area from the 1870s until the late 1910s. Pearl Street has served as a commercial street from the 1880s through present-day. Between 1891 and the late 1910s, a horse-drawn street car operated along Pearl Street, which also included the Interurban Railroad Street Car that operated from 1908 to the late 1910s. Automobile traffic began in 1917 and was present on Pearl Street until the street was transformed into a pedestrian mall in 1977. Pearl Street's essential role in Downtown Boulder is epitomized by the city's choice to host special events such as the city's annual 4th of July Parade. In the 1950s and 1960s, and with the opening of Crossroads Mall, commercial use had diminished along Pearl Street. The transformation of Pearl Street Mall into a pedestrian promenade and public open space created a center of commerce and public gathering within the City of Boulder. Pearl Street Mall offers shopping, dining, street performances, play, and commerce, along with concert series, festivals and other special events.
Figure 1-3. The 1100 Block of Pearl Street with wooden boardwalk, c. 1881 (source: Carnegie Branch Library for Local History)
Figure 1-4. Band on the Bricks Performance on Pearl Street Mall, 2018 (source: Downtown Boulder)
9-9
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator