HISTORIC DENVER 

Denver 

News: Architect Alan Golin Gass, who contributed to projects like the Mile High Center, which is now part of the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Denver, the former Zeckendorf Plaza, also in Denver’s downtown, and the Kips Bay Plaza residential complex in New York, is one of those being honored when Historic Denver holds its 55^th annual gala. 

The dinner event takes place Oct. 16 at the Brown Palace Hotel. 

Gass will receive the Keystone Award, an honor bestowed upon those who have made significant contributions throughout their lifetime to historic preservation in Denver. 

A fourth-generation native of Denver, Gass, an expert in the architectural applications of solar energy and educational facility design, also worked on the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse at 1961 Stout St. And the 300,000-square-foot Front Range Community College building in Westminster, which features an innovative solar-assisted heat pump of more than 35,000 square feet, making it what is believed to be the largest solar-heated educational building in the world. 

“We’re excited to celebrate this evening alongside 400 of Denver’s civic and business leaders, design professionals, respected craftspeople and local advocates, all united in preserving our city’s unique identity and diverse stories,” said John Deffenbaugh, Historic Denver’s president and chief executive officer. 

The honorees, he added, “Exemplify a commitment to maintaining the city’s historic fabric and telling its stories while embracing the principles of inclusivity, sustainability and adaptive reuse.” 

In addition to Gass, other honorees are: 

• Derek Okubo, the Ann Love Award is given to individuals who may not consider themselves traditional preservationists but have shown initiative, creativity, and commitment in preserving the history, culture, and architecture of Denver. Okubo has led efforts to recognize and capture the oral histories and physical places that mark difficult chapters of history, including the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II at what is now Amache National Historic Site in southern Colorado, where three generations of his family were held. 
• Roz Duman, a civil rights and humanitarian advocate and founder/executive director of the Coalition Against Global Genocide, who will receive the Margaret “Molly” Brown Award that honors those who live in Molly Brown’s spirit by actively engaging themselves in politics, philanthropy, arts and cultural endeavors and historic preservation. 
• The Far East Center, the Mosaic Community Campus (formerly the site of Johnson & Wales University, Urban Cowboy Denver and Ochiltree Block/The Griffin will receive the 2025 Community Preservation Awards 
• The 2025 Infill Award will go to Curtis 33, a mixed-use development that reflects the historic charm of Denver’s Curtis Park neighborhood. 

Tickets for the 5 p.m. event are $250 each for general admission, $350 for patron-level, and $195 for young professionals. They may be reserved by visiting historicdenver.org 

 About the organization: Historic Denver was founded in 1970 and is considered one of the nation’s premier nonprofit urban preservation organizations, and as such, works every day to promote and protect the city’s historic places and spaces.  

Website: historicdenver.org 

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