Anyone who attended the July 11 meeting on the proposal to move the Colorado Historical Society into Civic Center probably left with two distinct impressions:

• This is the best site for the institution, which must find another home because the state judicial system wants to expand, even though the myriad other proposed locations were not fully detailed.

• David Owen Tryba would be the architect of a new building for the society and its museum.

And, really, there was a third: That this was a done deal, moving along a fast track into the governor's office by late October and the legislature soon after, with a quick hop later into Civic Center.

Well, hold on to your calendars. There's more to come. Perhaps the upcoming meetings planned by the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission, the historical society and the Denver Office on Cultural Affairs may clear up some of the fog.

At least I hope so.

Confusion entered the picture a month after that July meeting when Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper told the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs that the choice of an architect for the site hardly was cast in stone.

That may have been the message some of us heard from project manager Bill Mosher, architect Tryba and society president Ed Nichols. But it needs to be decided "whether that vision is sufficiently likely to give a beneficial result, to help the park reach its full potential," Hickenlooper told the commissioners, some of whom had attended the July meeting.

And the architect? "We as a city have a legitimate opportunity and obligation, no matter what, to have a (design) competition" for any new building that would go in Civic Center, the mayor said.

Which puzzled me - and a few others present - to no end.

But there is an answer to this. Tryba had a contract in 2000 with the historical society to design an expansion on its existing site (a plan that tanked when the bottom fell out of the state's building program) and the go-ahead in 2005 to renovate the society's library. And state statutes allow the society to turn to him for further design work.

But Tryba now is considered a subcontractor to Mosher's firm, Trammell Crow Co., on its $525,000 contract with the state Judicial Department to study options for the judicial center and the historical society. Of that, $75,000 is set aside for Tryba's work on the project.

"The public process is going to drive those decisions," said historical society spokeswoman Rebecca Laurie.

Joseph Bell, director of facilities services for the historical society, said the society would enjoy a "time advantage and a cost advantage" if Tryba won the commission. But "everything is up for discussion. We're still exploring our options, depending on what the final site is."

Ah, those sites.

Laurie said that at the next stakeholders' meeting, on Wednesday, she expects at least two other sites to be outlined in terms of pros and cons: the former Denver Permit Center, and land earmarked for a new state office building at East Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street.

In recent meetings with Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation and the American Institute of Architects urban design committee, Mosher, Tryba and Nichols have touched on those two and Civic Center. (Other locations studied - Evans School, a site on Speer Boulevard, land south of the former Security Life Building, Colorado National Bank, etc. - have been put aside.)

So let us know why.

Granted, there is a time issue here. Under the proposed timeline, construction on the historical society building could begin in 2009, with a 2011 opening. The judicial center could begin construction in 2011, opening in 2014.

The July presentation indicated the new state judicial center would be about 650,000 square feet and cost $265 million to $290 million, paid for by increased court fees and certificates of participation. The new historical society building in Civic Center would include 190,000 square feet to 240,000 square feet, most of it underground, and cost $90 million to $115 million, paid for by certificates of participation. A use agreement for city land could save $10 million to $20 million over the other locations studied.

Another building in Civic Center also is part of the discussion: What happens to the McNichols Building (the old Carnegie Library), which the proposal casts as a Denver Cultural Center and the historical society's Stephen H. Hart Library?

Office of Cultural Affairs director Erin Trapp has called three meetings to ask the public what it would like that type of center to be. The sessions will explore different areas: best practices as explained by directors from such centers from out of state, examples of innovative technology used by cultural centers and, finally, a workshop to pull together what a Denver Cultural Center should entail.

The bottom line for all these meetings? Tell us more and tell us why. And realize the alarm has again rung over the fate of Civic Center - historic district, contemplative space and nationally recognized example of City Beautiful design.

There are no smoke-filled back rooms any more, at least no public ones. But this process has begun to take on that character. It's time - now - to clear the air.

Save the dates

• Denver Landmark Preservation Commission: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave.

• Colorado Historical Society: 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24, and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, Colorado Historical Society, 1300 Broadway

• Denver Office of Cultural Affairs: public meetings on a new Denver Cultural Center; 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 11, 17 and 25, The Cable Center, 2000 Buchtel Blvd.

Mary Voelz Chandler is the art and architecture critic. Chandlerm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2677

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