Providing communities of color across Denver with access to yoga, mindfulness, and wellness practices that are vital to healing from systemic oppression.
Located at 2745 Welton Street, the Douglass Undertaking Building is rich with history. The building was once a one-story brick residence in the early 1890s. Esteemed Denver architect Merrill H. Hoyt, a design architect for institutions like the Denver Press Club and Steele Elementary School, designed the iconic facade in 1915; for the most part, the building has since maintained its original architecture.
In 1916, Lewis and Frederick Jr. Douglass, sons of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, operated the Douglass Undertaking Company until the mid-1940s. Since then an upholstery company, pool hall, bar, and school have all been a part of the Douglass Undertaking Building’s story. In 2016, Urban Sanctuary moved in, marking the building’s latest evolution and notably, Denver’s first black, woman-run wellness studio.
The Five Points neighborhood is rich with Black history, and by preserving our building we encourage the preservation of Black history that is often erased at the hands of gentrification and redlining. Instead of erasing the history of the vibrant ‘Harlem of the West’ that was built by prominent Black entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and visionaries, we hope to preserve the neighborhood to continue their legacy and support our community to thrive with connection to our roots. We hope that the preservation of the Douglass building will encourage others in the neighborhood to choose restoration of the original structures and buildings versus demolition as the neighborhood works to rebuild and develop.