Dana Hudkins Crawford

Last updated
Dana Hudkins Crawford
Born
Dana Hudkins

(1931-07-22) July 22, 1931 (age 92)
Salina, Kansas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupationarchitectural preservationist
Years active1965-present
Known forLarimer Square, Union Station
SpouseJohn W. R. Crawford III (married on October 12, 1955)

Dana Hudkins Crawford (born July 22, 1931) is an American architectural conservation developer and preservationist working in Denver, Colorado. She has been involved in almost every renovation project in downtown Denver, from the initial designation of the LoDo District and creation of Larimer Square to the Union Station. She was recognized by her alma mater, Radcliffe College, for the Larimer Square project, was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, and in 2013 the hotel at the restoration project of Union Station was renamed as the Crawford Hotel in honor of her contributions to preserve the history of Denver.

Contents

Biography

Dana Hudkins was born on July 22, 1931, in Salina, Kansas. She graduated from Monticello College and then went on to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas [1] in 1953, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi. From there, she enrolled in Radcliffe College and studied Business Administration, graduating in 1954. [2] That same year, she moved to Denver, Colorado and began working in a public relations firm. [3] In 1955, she married a geologist, John W. R. Crawford III, and they subsequently had four sons. [1]

In the early 1960s, when the Lower Downtown (LoDo) area of the 1400 block of Larimer Street was being proposed for demolition, Crawford organized a group of investors to buy the property for a potential retail redevelopment project. [3] They formed an organization called Historic Denver, Inc. with the goal of preserving Denver's architectural heritage and save the Molly Brown House. There was strong opposition to the preservation movement from the Denver Urban Renewal Authority [4] as well as community opposition from those who thought that designating the area as a preservation district would limit new development in the area. [3] Finding financing was another hurdle, as many banks did not want to lend to a woman. She surmounted the problem by obtaining financing from the New York Life Insurance Company. [4] After about 10 years of planning, in 1971, Denver's first Historic District, Larimer Square, was launched. [3] She received a Radcliffe Alumnae Recognition Award for her successful development of Larimer Square. [2]

After completing the Larimer Square project, Crawford started work on Union Station neighborhood but worked alone for nearly 30 years. [3] In the interim, she worked on preservation of the Oxford Hotel, LoDo's Millennium retail office project, two Flour Mill Loft redevelopment ventures, [5] the Ice House, Coors Field, and others. In 1996, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame for her preservation [6] and development of downtown Denver. The Flour Mill Loft Project, completed in 1999, [7] was one of Crawford's personal favorites, as it was "the first residential project in the Platte Valley". [8]

In 2008, several investors got together and a plan was formed to design, finance and build a transit system linked to Union Station. The station itself was accepting proposals and Crawford put together a team, which they called the Union Station Alliance, to make a bid. They won the project in December 2011 and a 99-year lease on the station and set about obtaining approval from the National Park Service to make alterations to the historic site. After a year, approval was attained, the consortium changed equity partners and the development got underway. [9] In 2013, the hotel within Union Station, was renamed the Crawford Hotel in Crawford's honor as a way to recognize her contributions to the revitalization of downtown Denver. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LoDo, Denver</span> Unofficial neighborhood in Denver, Colorado

LoDo is an unofficial neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, and is one of the oldest places of settlement in the city. It is a mixed-use historic district, known for its nightlife, and serves as an example of success in urban reinvestment and revitalization. The current population is approximately 21,145.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auraria, Denver</span> Early neighborhood in Denver, Colorado

Auraria was a small mining settlement in the Kansas Territory in the United States. Today it survives in its original location as a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, south of the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Union Station</span> Train station in Denver, Colorado

Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in the present-day LoDo district and includes the historic station house, a modern open-air train shed, a 22-gate underground bus station, and light rail station. A station was first opened on the site on June 1, 1881, but burned down in 1894. The current structure was erected in two stages, with an enlarged central portion completed in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Colorado</span> List of National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. State of Colorado

There are more than 1,500 properties and historic districts in the U.S. State of Colorado listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are distributed over 63 of Colorado's 64 counties; only the City and County of Broomfield currently has none.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clara Brown</span> American woman who was formerly enslaved, community leader, philanthropist

Clara Brown (1800–1885) was a former enslaved woman from Virginia and Kentucky who became a community leader and philanthropist. She helped formerly enslaved people become settled during Colorado's Gold Rush. She was known as the 'Angel of the Rockies' and made her mark as "Colorado's first black settler and a prosperous entrepreneur".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Denver</span> Human settlement in Denver, Colorado, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Hickok Robbins Stone</span>

Elizabeth Hickok Robbins Stone was an American pioneer woman who was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1988. Born in Connecticut and raised in New York, Elizabeth Hickok was married and widowed twice and had 8 children from her first marriage to Dr. Ezekiel Robbins. Most of her adulthood was spent as a pioneer, building homes and businesses with her husbands in Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota and Colorado. Both of her husbands participated in developing statehoods: Ezekiel Robbins in Illinois and Lewis Stone in Minnesota.

Frances Mary McConnell-Mills was an American toxicologist. She was the first woman to be appointed Denver's city toxicologist, the first female toxicologist in the Rocky Mountains, and probably the first female forensic pathologist in the United States.

Edwina Hume Fallis was an American educator, writer, poet, and toy designer. Her memoir for children, When Denver and I Were Young (1956), went through two printings, and she published over 100 poems. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lena Lovato Archuleta</span>

Lena Lovato Archuleta was an American educator, school librarian, and administrator in New Mexico and Colorado for more than three decades. In 1976 she became the first Hispanic woman principal in the Denver Public Schools system. She was also the first Hispanic president of the Denver Classroom Teachers' Association and the Colorado Library Association, and the first female president of the Latin American Education Foundation. She was instrumental in the founding of several political and community advocacy groups for Latinos and served on numerous city and community boards. Following her retirement in 1979, she became a full-time volunteer for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2002 the Denver Public Schools system dedicated the Lena L. Archuleta Elementary School in northeast Denver in her honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Fiore</span> American womens rights and peace activist (1912–2002)

Genevieve Fiore (1912–2002) was an American women's rights and peace activist, who was the founder, and served as the executive director, of the Colorado Division of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Her UNESCO Club was founded in the year the clubs were first conceived and was the third organization established in the world. In 1967 she was honored as one of the inductees for the Colorado Women of Achievement Award. She was knighted by Italy in 1975 receiving the rank of Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia. In 1991, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame for her many years of peace activism and work with women's rights issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larimer Square, Denver</span> United States historic center

Larimer Square is a historic block in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is the city's first designated local historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Marie Black</span> American journalist

Helen Marie Black was an American cultural and civic leader, journalist, and publicist. She was a co-founder of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and served as its business manager for more than 30 years, being the first female symphony manager in the United States. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Bonfils</span> American actress, theatrical producer, publisher, and philanthropist (1889–1972)

Helen Gilmer Bonfils was an American heiress, actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive, and philanthropist. She acted in local theatre in Denver, Colorado, and on Broadway, and also co-produced plays in Denver, New York City, and London. She succeeded her father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as manager of The Denver Post in 1933, and eventually became president of the company. Lacking heirs, she invested her fortune into providing for the city of Denver and the state of Colorado, supporting the Belle Bonfils Blood Bank, the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, the University of Denver, the Denver Zoo, the Dumb Friends League, churches, and synagogues. Her estate endowed the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Bonfils Stanton</span> American heiress and philanthropist (1883–1962)

Mary Madeline "May" Bonfils Stanton was an American heiress and philanthropist. She and her younger sister, Helen Bonfils, succeeded their father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as principal owners of The Denver Post. However, May's elopement at age 21 with a non-Catholic salesman had forged a rift in her relationship with her parents and sister that worsened when Helen inherited the majority of their parents' estates. Following a three-year legal battle over the inheritance, the sisters cut off all communication with each other. May married twice but did not have children. Living a reclusive life, she invested her fortune into building and furnishing her 750-acre (300 ha) estate in Lakewood, Colorado – which included a mansion that was an exact replica of Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon château in Versailles – and into many philanthropic endeavors in the state of Colorado. The Bonfils–Stanton Foundation, established by her second husband after her death in 1962, continues to support the arts in Colorado. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.

Joan Packard Birkland was an American athlete and women's sports advocate. Considered one of Colorado's greatest all-around athletes, she earned multiple titles in women's amateur tennis and golf championships at the city and state level. Following her retirement from competition, she served on numerous sports boards and became involved in sports education for disabled youth. She was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

Hendrika Bestebreurtje Cantwell is a German-born American retired physician, professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver, advocate for abused and neglected children, and parenting educator. She was one of the first physicians in the United States to work for a child protection agency, serving with the Denver Department of Social Services from 1975 to 1989. Her work there brought her in contact with an estimated 30,000 cases of suspected child abuse and she testified as an expert witness in thousands of court cases. An author of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and teaching manuals on the detection and treatment of child abuse, she has also conducted workshops and training programs for professionals throughout Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret L. Curry</span> American parole officer and social worker (1898–1986)

Margaret L. Taylor Curry was an American state parole officer, medical social worker, child welfare worker, and music teacher. In 1952 she became the first female parole officer for the Colorado Department of Corrections. During her 18-year tenure, she was the only female officer supervising adult inmates and parolees. She introduced vocational training, high school equivalency courses, and self-improvement classes to further the rehabilitation of women prisoners. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station North</span> Neighborhoods in Denver in Colorado, United States

Union Station North, formerly known as Prospect, is a neighborhood within the city limits of Denver, Colorado. Previously dominated by industrial buildings, waste, railroad tracks and considered an area of the city to be avoided, today it has been rehabilitated into multi-story residential buildings, restaurants, amenities, easy access to downtown Denver, and is a short walk to the South Platte River Trail, which runs along its northern boundary.

References

  1. 1 2 Varnell & Hanson 1999, p. 225.
  2. 1 2 "Radcliffe Alumnae Recognition Awards". Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Library. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Moore, Paula (June 19, 2014). "Legacy Award: Dana Crawford respected as a 'placemaker'". Denver, Colorado: Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 Varnell & Hanson 1999, p. 226.
  5. ↑ Sinisi, J. Sebastian (January 10, 2000). "Crawford still an urban pioneer". Denver, Colorado: Denver Post. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Dana Crawford". Denver, Colorado: Colorado Great Women. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Stunning Loft in a Former Flour Mill in Denver". Denver, Colorado: HomeDsgn. September 30, 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Rinaldi, Ray Mark (November 26, 2013). "Denver developer Dana Crawford continues to take on big projects". Denver, Colorado: The Denver Post. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Jaffe, Mark (July 13, 2014). "Denver's renovated Union Station has been a 30-year barn-raising". Denver, Colorado: The Denver Post. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Svaldi, Aldo (November 13, 2013). "Crawford Hotel will put flesh on old bones of Union Station". Denver, Colorado: The Denver Post. Retrieved 20 October 2015.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.