The Denver City Council will soon vote on whether to make a historic mansion in the Capitol Hill neighborhood a designated landmark after the council land use committee advanced the proposal Tuesday.

The committee unanimously approved the proposal without comment, passing it on to the full council for a final vote and public hearing in the coming weeks.

If approved, the mansion at 555 E. Eighth Ave. would be preserved and protected from demolition and significant change. The mansion was built in 1898 and is the oldest surviving structure on the block between Eighth and Ninth avenues and Pearl and Pennsylvania streets.

“The property is an established and familiar feature of the Capitol Hill neighborhood,” said Jenny Buddenborg with Denver Community Planning and Development. “It represents over 120 years of Capitol Hill history and evolution.”

The roughly 12,000-square-foot property is surrounded mostly by tall, multiunit buildings that replaced the houses that formerly occupied the block. The mansion is also adjacent to three other designated landmarks, including the Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion.

If approved, the mansion would add to Denver’s 353 individual landmarks and 57 historic districts. That amounts to around 7,200 designated sites citywide.

Buddenborg said the mansion is eligible for historic landmark designation because of its age, its distinctive visible characteristics of the Classical Revival Style and its connection to local well-known figures.

“The property has direct and substantial association with three generations of the Charles Nelson and Elizabeth Arms Hart family, as well as Emma Fellows and Peter McCourt, recognized persons who had influence on Denver and Colorado society,” Buddenborg said.

The Hart family built the mansion and lived there until 1909. The family was well known among the community for its philanthropy and involvement in the medical profession.

Stephen Hart, who was born while his family lived in the mansion and went on to serve in the state Legislature, was Colorado’s first state historic preservation officer and co-founded one of the state’s largest and most influential law firms, Holland & Hart. History Colorado named its Stephen H. Hart Research Center after him.

The Harts later sold the mansion to the McCourt family, who lived there until 1915. Emma McCourt was a businesswoman and socialite who helped impoverished Denverites. Her husband, Peter, managed the Tabor Grand Opera House and helped develop the performing arts community in Denver.

On Tuesday, the committee also unanimously advanced a proposal to rezone the mansion to allow for residential use. The property’s current zoning only allows it to be used as office space.