Fentress Bradburn Architects, Ltd., Denver, CO, was selected as the winner of the competition for the Justice Center in 1998. Natural stone was an obvious choice for this stately government building, however, the design process had just begun. Since funding was coming out of the taxpayers' dollars, a public vote was held to approve or deny the design budget.
"It didn't pass in the first public vote, due to politics and the mood of the public who didn't like how the taxation was taking place," said Curtis Fentress, FAIA, of Fentress Bradburn Architects, Ltd., who was principal-in-charge-of-design for the project. "Once the wording on the ballot was cleared up, public opinion changed."