A longstanding, one-story structure in a quiet residential neighborhood in Denver now qualifies for preservation tax cuts and upgrading and rehabilitation incentives.
The structure at 2815 Madison Street houses a cultural landmark known as the Owl Club, a social gathering organization founded in 1941 by and for African Americans that also annually hosts a debutante cotillion for young women graduating from high school.
An advertisement for the upcoming cotillion next June notes that “to date, over 1,600 young ladies have been presented as Owl Club Debutantes, with numerous recipients awarded scholarships to further their college education.”
In 1971 one of those debutantes was the future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The structure that is home to the Owl Club has now been placed on Colorado’s Register of Historic Places, and as a result is now also on the pending list for the National Register of Historic Places.
A current exhibition at the History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway in Denver is celebrating the history of the Owl Club, with a public notice pointing out that the club “provided a safe place where community members could feel a sense of belonging, celebrate one another’s achievements, and defy stereotypes placed on black people and their culture.”
Originally located in a house at 2538 Marion Street, the Owl Club moved into its current Madison Street headquarters in 1960, a modern-designed building with a large front window comprised of glass bricks. What renovation work may be planned for the structure has not been revealed.
November 12, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo Courtesy of History Colorado
