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Grounds and Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park

Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park is part of the Capitol Complex, made up of various State-owned and -operated buildings between 16th Avenue on the north and 13th Avenue on the south, Broadway on the west to Grant St. on the east. Many people mistakenly believe Lincoln Park is part of Civic Center Park because they are adjacent to one another, however, Lincoln Park is owned and maintained by the State of Colorado and Civic Center Park is owned and maintained by the City & County of Denver. Both parks and the Capitol itself are part of Denver's Civic Center, which was officially recognized by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark in April 2013.

Organizations or individuals who wish to use the park for a public event must obtain a permit to do so. For information on scheduling events, or to fill out an application for an event permit on the capitol grounds or in Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park, use the form on the Event Permits page at the Division of Capital Assets.

Map showing Lincoln Memorial Park is across the street from the Capitol
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National Historic Landmark Designation Press Release

State properties part of National Historic Landmark designation

Denver — Wednesday, April 17, 2013 — Denver’s Civic Center, consisting of public spaces ranging from the State Capitol building to Denver’s Civic Center Park, was recognized by the National Park Service as the first National Historic Landmark (NHL) in the city.

“We are honoring these iconic properties as an example of the ‘City Beautiful’ movement of the early 20th century,” said State Architect Larry Friedberg. “We are especially proud that the National Park Service recognized the State’s architectural contribution to what is truly a grand public space at the heart of Denver.”

The NHL designation extends from the State Capitol on the east side of Broadway to the Denver City and County Building on the west side of Bannock. State properties included within the boundary include the State Capitol and its grounds; the State Office Building (northeast corner of Colfax and Sherman); the “Colorado State Museum” building (southeast corner of E. 14th and Sherman, which is now used as an office and meeting annex for the Capitol); and Lincoln Park (which includes Veterans Monument). City properties include Civic Center Park, the McNichols Building (Carnegie Library), the Greek Amphitheater, Voorhies Memorial, the Pioneer Monument and the City and County Building (14th and Bannock).

Colorado’s Department of Personnel & Administration is responsible for the ongoing care and maintenance of the Capitol, as well as all of the State’s properties that are recognized in the NHL designation.

Colorado continues its commitment to preservation of its architectural treasures for this and future generations of Coloradoans as is evidenced by the current project to restore the Capitol’s gold dome more than a century after its construction. Friedberg estimates the structural restoration and re-gilding of the gold dome will be completed in late summer 2014.

Denver’s Civic Center joins a list of some of the most iconic, treasured and historically significant spaces in the United States. NHL designation places Civic Center alongside such sites as the Empire State Building, the Alamo and the Library of Congress. San Francisco’s Civic Center is the only other location of this type currently recognized as a NHL.

The nomination of Denver's Civic Center for consideration as a National Historic Landmark was prepared by Front Range Research Associates, managed by Historic Denver and reviewed by History Colorado's Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office) and the National Parks Service. The effort was endorsed by the City and County of Denver, the Denver Parks and Recreation Department, the Civic Center Conservancy, officials with the State of Colorado, and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. It was funded in part through a grant from the State Historical Fund, a program of History Colorado.

The Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration’s mission is to provide quality services to enhance state government success. From human resources to central services, procurement to payment, administrative courts to financial reporting, DPA is working together to serve Colorado.

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Lincoln Park most notably contains the Veteran's Memorial on the east side of the park, and a full-size replica of the Liberty Bell. The replica was one of 53 replicas cast in France in 1950 and donated to the U.S. government by "American industry and free enterprise." One went to each state, plus the District of Columbia. The remaining two bells have not been located. The bell once occupied a first-floor niche of the capitol. In 1974, it was placed on East 14th Avenue and Sherman Street on the southwest corner of the old Colorado Historical Museum. A masonry shrine was built to enclose the bell. The shrine was constructed as a joint, nonprofit effort of labor and management. In 1986, Senate Joint Resolution 86-9 authorized the relocation of the Liberty Bell to Lincoln Park, west of the capitol. The bell was relocated to commemorate the 210th anniversary of the independence of the United States.

A cast iron bell sits in a metal sawhorse shaped cradle outside.
Full size replica of the liberty bell