WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) – The City of Westminster has officially named the neighborhood where the city began. One woman and many other community members worked with the city since last year to perfect the name.
“It seemed like people were calling this neighborhood a lot of different things like you would hear South Westminster or Harris Park,” said Becky Silver, owner of Aar River Gallery. “It just seemed right to call it Historic Westminster.”
Westminster began around 1870 near what is now the intersection of 72nd and Lowell Boulevard. Historic Westminster roughly encompasses many of the buildings dating back to the late 1800s from Sheridan Boulevard to Federal Boulevard and 72nd to 88th Avenues.
“There’s the old store fronts on this street, this is the original Main Street,” Silver says about what’s now 73rd Avenue.
Silver was part of a group that established the Historic Westminster Arts District nearly a decade ago, she credits that creation with shaping the now-designated Historic Westminster.
“A lot of my artists that I show in this gallery actually live in this neighborhood. Actually both of my stain glass artists live right in this neighborhood,” said Silver. “I feel like the official name will just help people. So many people that are discovering this area from other parts of the city and other parts of the metro area too. We want people to stop here and so I think it’s new branding, and a new name.”
To kick off the recent naming, the Historic Westminster Summer Festival is taking place June 7-8.
