Business Profile: Fletemeyer & Lee Associates

Niwot is home to the architectural firm Fletemeyer & Lee Associates (FLA). Dave Lee and Chad Fletemeyer and their team are actively engaged in the local business community and offer a complete selection of professional services that include site analysis and selection, architecture, landscape architecture, facility needs assessment and construction.

The Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (NLIDAC) retained FLA to update the 2012 Master Plan for Niwot. The Master Plan will assist the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) and the Niwot community in future planning, with an emphasis on pedestrian safety and connectivity between Niwot downtown and Cottonwood Square.

The gentleman spearheading this endeavor is architect Lee. When asked why he became an architect, he mentioned the influence of his uncle, who was an architect, and the desire to design things and solve problems. Lee graduated from the University of Washington with an undergraduate degree in architecture and relocated to Colorado to obtain his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Colorado.

He started working as an architect with Jim Fletemeyer in 1983 and is now a business owner with Jim's son Chad. Most of FLA's expertise focuses on hospitality design for camps and conference centers throughout the country which include organizations like the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and Boy and Girl Scouts of America, and many faith based organizations with most of their work concentrated outside Colorado.

After volunteering for a project at their church in Boulder, Lee and Fletemeyer offered to develop a master plan for the church's property near Allenspark, Highlands Camp and Conference Center. Soon afterward, they provided the same service for the Salvation Army camp, High Peak Camp & Conference Center, near Longs Peak, and from there expanded into this unique design niche.

Lee and his wife, Maggie, his high school sweetheart, have lived in Niwot since 1994 where they raised two sons who graduated from Niwot High School. When asked why they moved to Niwot rather than other communities along the Front Range, Lee said he fell in love with the small community and small town feel.

Lee feels his work on his "favorite project," the Niwot Master Plan update, reflects his commitment to Niwot. Lee believes community members involved in the Master Plan are committed to enhance Niwot and have a vision for the future.

Lee said he feels strongly about the connectivity between Cottonwood Square and downtown by improving the pedestrian access between the two.

FLA's current proposed design includes making 2nd Avenue more pedestrian friendly by replacing the existing asphalt with pavers and connecting the access through the Sculpture Park at the southwest corner of Niwot Road and 79th Street. FLA's proposal also realigns the intersection at 2nd Avenue and Niwot Road by having a ninety degree intersection which Lee believes will improve both connectivity and pedestrian safety.

Lee's other favorite project is the proposed eighty plus room, three story boutique hotel in Lyons, Colorado. Dave believes that the hotel will have a positive impact on the community and will help it thrive by offering tourists a hotel option in Lyons.