Dana Crawford

One day, Crawford’s car broke down on the city's Larimer Square block, when it was known as Denver’s “Skid Row,” and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority had planned to demolish historic buildings that lined it. That serendipitous mechanical failure catalyzed a stubborn and fierce initiative to save the block named after city founder William Larimer that was home to Denver’s first commercial district and original city hall. 

Crawford started a company, Larimer Square Associates, which would go on to thwart redevelopment plans by buying and restoring the historic buildings—catalyzing the revival of a block at the forefront of Denver’s dining and retail scenes in the decades since.

“It was obvious that downtown Denver needed a place where all kinds of people could get together,” Crawford told the The Denver Post in 2000. As the status quo involved wrecking balls clearing the way for parking lots, the renewal agency “had a plan to level a lot of Larimer Street, and most of [Lower Downtown] was supposed to be removed for a freeway,'' she added. “Denver was lucky to save what it did.'”

Crawford founded the organization Historic Denver in 1970 to lead preservation efforts in the city, with a focus on that area. Beyond Larimer Square, Crawford was involved in the preservation of Union Station, the Molly Brown House, the Flour Mill Lofts (formerly the Pride of the Rockies Flour Mill), and the Oxford Hotel in Denver. The Crawford Hotel at Union Station was named in her honor. Over the course of her career, she redeveloped more than 800,000 sq ft of property in the city through her company, Urban Neighborhoods.

Crawford’s legacy as a preservationist extends far beyond Denver's city limits, with projects in other Colorado towns such as Trinidad, Idaho Springs and Pueblo, as well as efforts in more than 50 other U.S. communities such as Dallas-Fort Worth, New Orleans and Savannah, Ga.

She served on the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, earning its highest honor, the Louise duPont Crowninshield Award, in 1995.

“I think for a lot of years they have not been taught to get the shared vision from the community where they want to build or change,” she told Denver's 9 News in a television interview in 2018. “I firmly believe that the people who’ve lived there for a long time have legitimate ideas, good ideas and everybody feels better if they get a chance to participate.”

Historic Denver remembered Crawford in a Facebook post, stating, “from saving Larimer Square to redeveloping Union Station, Dana shaped the Denver we know today. In 2014, she was awarded Historic Denver’s Keystone Award for her lifetime contributions to preservation. It’s no understatement to say that without Dana Crawford’s vision and drive to reimagine and reuse historic buildings, Denver would be a very different place.”

In a social media post, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Crawford's "impact on Denver, Southern Colorado and our entire state has been immense. It was Dana’s vision that helped revitalize Larimer Square and other corners of downtown, driving economic development in Denver and helping make it the place we know and love today. She took that same passion to reimagine communities like Idaho Springs and Trinidad.”

Crawford married geologist John W. Crawford III in 1955 and has four sons.