If you’ve driven into downtown Denver north off I-25, and took Lincoln Street north, you’ve seen the red hulking Channel 7 building at 123 E. Speer Blvd.

Millions of motorists have driven by since the brutalist architecture style building was erected in 1969. To many, it’s the visual signal you’re entering Denver’s central business district.

The five-story office building is the only home KMGH “The Denver Channel” has ever had. It started at the same site as KLZ radio – which was housed in a former auto dealership.

“We’ve really found ourselves busting at the seams,” said General Manager Dean Littleton. “The bottom line is we’re a growing local news organization and we’re incredibly thankful that instead of cutting staff, like we’ve seen in many newsrooms here, we’ve added new resources.”

The building and land have been put up for sale, and a potential buyer has signed a letter of intent – though Littleton declined to name the potential buyer.

As part of that process, the property owner – in this case Scripps Media Inc. headquartered in Cincinnati – files a “certificate of non-historic status” to make it easier for the buyer to raze the building. Scripps also filed a “certificate of demolition eligibility” in December.

That “would give the property owner permission to apply for a demolition permit within five years without further review from our landmark staff,” according to Alexandra Foster, communications program manager for the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission.

But the city staff found four reasons why it might qualify for landmark preservation status:

• It has a direct association with a significant historic event or with the historical development of the city, state or nation; “Channel 7 news has expanded from an outgrowth of an existing radio station into one of the main venues by which Denverites and residents of the Denver Metro area acquire their news, morning and night. The studio building itself represents this change, flaunting the preeminence of television as a news source in the second half of the 20^th century.”
• It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style or type; “123 Speer Boulevard’s Brutalist style is clearly evidenced in its dramatic massing, detailing and materiality, and in its organization around the interior program. … The buildings materiality expands on the drama of the massing through a contrast between the exposed grey concrete structure and crushed Colorado Red Rock panels.”
• It represents an established and familiar feature of the neighborhood, community or contemporary city, due to its prominent location or physical characteristics; “Located along the major thoroughfare of Speer Boulevard, the KMGH-TV station has an incredibly prominent location within the city. On a daily basis, thousands of Denverites drive past the distinctive octagonal tower.”
• It promotes understanding and appreciate of the urban environment by means of distinctive physical characteristics or rarity. “Because the form of the building remains as it was at the time of construction and the building has only ever been occupied by the Channel 7 Station, the building retains integrity of association with its historical significance and integrity of feeling.”

So the application was put on hold for 21 days and LPC posted notice at 123 E. Speer, and on the city’s website “to see if members of the community express interest in entering into discussions with the applicant about potentially saving the property from demolition,” Foster said in an email.

And sure enough, on the deadline day Jan. 11, three Denver residents (it must be three) filed that notice. Bradley Cameron, Michael Henry and David Lynn Wise are common names in Denver historic preservation circles, especially around the Capital Hill area.

“It’s a very prominent and significant building,” said Cameron, a retired attorney. “It’s a significant part of Denver.”

Cameron said the men are in mediation with the buyer and Channel 7 officials, but would not provide any details of negotiations, other than to say “they don’t want to save the building.”

Debate over landmark preservation issues has been robust in recent years, evidenced by the tussles over the Tom’s Diner building on Colfax Avenue.

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“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” Cameron said. But “it’s importance to the city may outweigh what that is. … It’s really got a look of permanence and is a very noteworthy example of the style brutalist with that crushed Colorado red stone.”

Many – including Channel 7 employees – disagree.

In an incredibly informal “person on the street” poll Thursday, of at least 15 passersby and area business employees, not a single person thought the building was easy on the eyes.

“It looks like a prison.”

“It’s not attractive.”

“It may be brutalist style, but it’s also brutal on the eyes,” said Grant Bennett, principal of Proximity Green a local developer, who happened to be walking by. “I’m all for restoring historic buildings, but there has to be a reason to save the building. … That building in context with other buildings would be okay, but its isolated and suburban-esque as is situated. It takes away from, instead of adding to, the fabric of Denver.”

The Denver Assessor’s office puts a value of $3.01 million on the land and 80,623-square-foot building, as of the 2017 assessment. It’s most assuredly going to go for more than that as evidenced by the high-priced developments springing up in the neighborhood.

According to BusinessDen: “Multifamily redevelopment wouldn’t be unusual for the neighborhood. Across Sherman Street, Virginia-based AvalonBay Communities is under contract to purchase the Racines restaurant property and other nearby parcels for a 13-story project. A block north of that, Atlanta-based Gables Residential has proposed an eight-story project and Denver-based LCP Development is constructing an apartment building next to Denver Housing Authority’s former headquarters. Across Speer Boulevard, Washington-based Holland Partner Group and Dallas-based Mill Creek Residential are building apartments next to each other.”

Littleton said they’ve simply outgrown the building, and it’s no longer suited for delivering news in the current media landscape. Scripps has housed a national news team here, as well as the station’s recent purchase of community access channel KCDO.

“We’ve added news local content, which requires more employees and studio space,” he said. “It’s just not working in a building that’s purpose was built for a 1970s TV operation. The business of news gathering has changed tremendously.”

Station officials have trust in the proposed buyer to improve the neighborhood, he said.

“We’re in the neighborhood, too. We want to see this property be used in a way beneficial to the neighborhood, just like they do. That’s why we selected the buyer we did – they are going to be good stewards of the land.”

While Littleton understands the nostalgia for the building, he said it’s important to also understand Channel 7’s history isn’t going anywhere.

“Journalist organizations are different,” Littleton said. “The history is not in these four walls and rooms, it’s in the tens and thousands of hours of local events coverage and so much more. That’s saved and will remain available for generations.”