The Pearl Street Mall (also referred to as Pearl Street, or Downtown Boulder) is a four-block pedestrian mall in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

. The pedestrian area stretches from 11th Street to 15th Street along Pearl Street and is home to a number of businesses and restaurants as well as the Boulder County Courthouse.

About

The Pearl Street Mall is a popular destination for tourists visiting Boulder and for students attending the nearby

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

. The mall hosts a blend of locally owned businesses and national chain stores and restaurants. It is also home to much of Boulder's nightlife. During the summer months, Pearl Street Mall is the stage for a number of

street performers Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...

, including musicians. The Pearl Street Mall is filled with public art, including numerous fountains and sculptures as well as a sandbox for children, a stylized map of

Boulder County Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises t ...

and a number of small gardens which are planted with a variety of flowers and trees, most notably

tulips Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

in the spring. The Mall is at the heart of downtown Boulder, in the western part of present-day Boulder. The area is an historic district and many of the buildings are among the oldest in Boulder. The Boulder County Courthouse is located in the 1300 block on the north side of the mall. Although the courthouse no longer houses the actual courts for Boulder County, it remains the seat of county government.

History

As a Planning Board member, Carl A. Worthington began working on the project in 1966 in an attempt to revitalize Boulder's downtown. In 1973 he prepared a master plan which was approved by an 86% majority. The Pearl Street Mall was constructed between June 1976 and August 1977 and was officially dedicated on August 6, 1977. The design team consisted of three firms: CommArts, Inc. (Boulder), Everett Ziegel Associates (Boulder), and

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Waterto ...

-based Sasaki Associates. Scenes from the movie ''

Catch and Release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posing, posed photography as trophy, proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooke ...

'', which was set in Boulder, were filmed on the Pearl Street Mall in July 2005. In the TV series '' Mork & Mindy'', the New York Deli operated by Remo and Jean DaVinci was located at 1117 Pearl Street. The actual deli of the same name and location closed in June 1999.

References

External links

Downtown Boulder
{{coord, 40.018360, -105.278026, type:landmark_region:US-CO, display=title Culture of Boulder, Colorado Streets in Colorado Pedestrian malls in the United States Tourist attractions in Boulder, Colorado Downtown Boulder Historic District