Home > Design Guidelines > Business Treatment Area > New Construction: Overview & Site Considerations
Design Guidelines
Lake City, Colorado Historic District
Business Treatment Area
New Commercial Construction:
Overview & Site Considerations
New commercial construction should compliment rather than overpower the historic buildings. The form, height, exterior materials, and decorative elements of a new building should be compatible with those in the surrounding area.
Site considerations
The way in which a building is placed on its lot and relates to the neighboring buildings contributes to the visual unity of a Historic District.
Commercial buildings in historic Lake City were typically rectangular in form, one to two stories in height, and placed on a 25' by 125' lot.
New construction should compliment the size, height, and arrangement of the surrounding buildings. For new commercial buildings on corner lots, both street-facing walls should be treated as primary facades.
Site considerations for new commercial construction include:
Commercial buildings in Lake City were 25 feet wide, built to the sides of the 25-foot-wide lots. Those that occupied multiple lots were broken into 25-foot storefronts. Masonry buildings were one or two stories tall. Woodframe buildings were typically one or one-and-one-half stories in height.
Guidelines
1. Limit building height to two stories.
2. Limit building width to 25 feet, or break up a wider building into smaller storefronts of approximately 25 feet.
3. Consider the height and width of surrounding buildings. Do not dwarf neighboring buildings.
Form and mass
Commercial buildings were rectangular in form and built to the front of the lot line, to conform to the long, narrow lot. Historic buildings typically were smaller in mass than today's commercial buildings. This smaller size provided a more human scale, accentuated by boardwalks and large display windows that invited pedestrians down the street and into the stores.
Guidelines
1. Use a solid, rectangular form in design of a new building.
2. Design new building so that its mass appears similar to that of the historic ones. Break up the façade of a large new building into smaller visual units. Storefronts on Silver Street
are 25 feet wide. Wider buildings are broken into small visual units. Historic buildings were long, tall, and narrow, and
rectangular in form.
Scale and rhythm
Two-story buildings in the Business Treatment Area had a visual distinction between the ground floor and upper stories. One-story false front buildings generally had a similar horizontal alignment of their façade cornices. Both featured a 25-foot width that provided a visual pattern along the commercial block.
Guidelines
1. Include a horizontal division on the building fronts: on two-story buildings between the first and second story, and on one-story buildings between the windows and the false-front
façade.
2. Repeat horizontal rhythm reflected in adjacent buildings.
Placement
The buildings in the Business Treatment Area were traditionally placed at the front of the lot line, to provide ready pedestrian access. Most were fronted by a boardwalk and a few had a shed-roofed porch. Horses and horse-drawn wagons were tied to hitching rails in front of the building.
Guideline
1. Place a new building to the front of the lot line with the entrance at the front of the building.
Boardwalks and porches
Boardwalks allowed people to walk along the street edge without becoming soiled by dust and mud. Several of these boardwalks have been reconstructed. They are an integral part of the business district's historic character. Several woodframe buildings also had shed-roofed porches supported by posts that sheltered customers from inclement weather.
Guidelines
1. Consider including a wooden boardwalk in front of your new building.
2. Consider including a shed-roofed porch in your new building design, if appropriate to the architectural design of the building. A right-of-way permit may be required if the porch extends out over public property.
Signs
Lake City merchants advertised their wares in a variety of ways. They painted their store name on the building façade, hung a sign from the wall extending over the sidewalk, and painted a sign on the inside of the window glass. They did not have the electrical signage available to today's merchants. Town ordinances define acceptable sign size, type, and placement.
Guidelines
1. Consider a window sign either painted or hung inside of the window.
2. Consider an awning sign woven, painted, or sewn on an awning.
3. Mount signs so they will not obscure any architectural details.
4. Use sign materials and colors that are compatible with the façade materials and colors. Best are those that appear similar to signs used historically. For example, painted wood and metal are appropriate.
5. Consider your building as part of an overall sign plan or program. Avoid a sign that overwhelms the building.
Back to Design Guidelines Main Menu
Other categories in this section are:
New Commercial Construction, including
Design Guidelines
Lake City, Colorado Historic District
Business Treatment Area
New Commercial Construction:
Overview & Site Considerations
New commercial construction should compliment rather than overpower the historic buildings. The form, height, exterior materials, and decorative elements of a new building should be compatible with those in the surrounding area.
Site considerations
The way in which a building is placed on its lot and relates to the neighboring buildings contributes to the visual unity of a Historic District.
Commercial buildings in historic Lake City were typically rectangular in form, one to two stories in height, and placed on a 25' by 125' lot.
New construction should compliment the size, height, and arrangement of the surrounding buildings. For new commercial buildings on corner lots, both street-facing walls should be treated as primary facades.
Site considerations for new commercial construction include:
- Height and width
- Form and mass
- Scale and rhythm
- Placement
- Boardwalks and porches
- Signs
Commercial buildings in Lake City were 25 feet wide, built to the sides of the 25-foot-wide lots. Those that occupied multiple lots were broken into 25-foot storefronts. Masonry buildings were one or two stories tall. Woodframe buildings were typically one or one-and-one-half stories in height.
Guidelines
1. Limit building height to two stories.
2. Limit building width to 25 feet, or break up a wider building into smaller storefronts of approximately 25 feet.
3. Consider the height and width of surrounding buildings. Do not dwarf neighboring buildings.
Form and mass
Commercial buildings were rectangular in form and built to the front of the lot line, to conform to the long, narrow lot. Historic buildings typically were smaller in mass than today's commercial buildings. This smaller size provided a more human scale, accentuated by boardwalks and large display windows that invited pedestrians down the street and into the stores.
Guidelines
1. Use a solid, rectangular form in design of a new building.
2. Design new building so that its mass appears similar to that of the historic ones. Break up the façade of a large new building into smaller visual units. Storefronts on Silver Street
are 25 feet wide. Wider buildings are broken into small visual units. Historic buildings were long, tall, and narrow, and
rectangular in form.
Scale and rhythm
Two-story buildings in the Business Treatment Area had a visual distinction between the ground floor and upper stories. One-story false front buildings generally had a similar horizontal alignment of their façade cornices. Both featured a 25-foot width that provided a visual pattern along the commercial block.
Guidelines
1. Include a horizontal division on the building fronts: on two-story buildings between the first and second story, and on one-story buildings between the windows and the false-front
façade.
2. Repeat horizontal rhythm reflected in adjacent buildings.
Placement
The buildings in the Business Treatment Area were traditionally placed at the front of the lot line, to provide ready pedestrian access. Most were fronted by a boardwalk and a few had a shed-roofed porch. Horses and horse-drawn wagons were tied to hitching rails in front of the building.
Guideline
1. Place a new building to the front of the lot line with the entrance at the front of the building.
Boardwalks and porches
Boardwalks allowed people to walk along the street edge without becoming soiled by dust and mud. Several of these boardwalks have been reconstructed. They are an integral part of the business district's historic character. Several woodframe buildings also had shed-roofed porches supported by posts that sheltered customers from inclement weather.
Guidelines
1. Consider including a wooden boardwalk in front of your new building.
2. Consider including a shed-roofed porch in your new building design, if appropriate to the architectural design of the building. A right-of-way permit may be required if the porch extends out over public property.
Signs
Lake City merchants advertised their wares in a variety of ways. They painted their store name on the building façade, hung a sign from the wall extending over the sidewalk, and painted a sign on the inside of the window glass. They did not have the electrical signage available to today's merchants. Town ordinances define acceptable sign size, type, and placement.
Guidelines
1. Consider a window sign either painted or hung inside of the window.
2. Consider an awning sign woven, painted, or sewn on an awning.
3. Mount signs so they will not obscure any architectural details.
4. Use sign materials and colors that are compatible with the façade materials and colors. Best are those that appear similar to signs used historically. For example, painted wood and metal are appropriate.
5. Consider your building as part of an overall sign plan or program. Avoid a sign that overwhelms the building.
Back to Design Guidelines Main Menu
Other categories in this section are:
New Commercial Construction, including
- Overview & Site Considerations
- Architectural Features
Town of Lake City, PO Box 544, Lake City, CO 81235. 970-944-2333. Site Credits & Content Permissions.
200 Block of Silver Street. Storefronts on Silver Street fill the entire width of each lot, 25 feet across. Wider buildings are broken into smaller visual units.
Historic commercial buildings were long, tall, and narrow, and rectangular in form.
The 25-foot width of storefronts on Silver Street provides a rhythm and a pedestrian scale.
Limit new building width to 25 feet, or break up a wider building into smaller storefronts.
Place a new commercial building to the front of the lot line. Consider including a wooden boardwalk in front of your new building.
Examples of different types of signs in the historic district, including signs painted inside window glass, signs made of painted wood, and signs that do not obscure architectural details.
