33 Years Ago
The March 14, 1991 Golden Transcript announced that the venerable Armory building was about to be sold at auction. The previous owner had declared bankruptcy, and more than one Golden building was suddenly on the market at–potentially–bargain prices.
Golden’s preservation community was concerned about the fate of the Armory, which was built in 1913. They feared that someone would buy and demolish it, making way for new development.
The Historic Preservation Board was empowered to delay a demolition, but only for 90 days.
The Loveland Block (now the Old Capital Grill) was also standing empty at that time, and people feared for that building too. The Golden Urban Renewal Authority was just getting underway at that time, and there was fear that “urban renewal” might be a synonym for “demolishing historic buildings.”
A pension fund held the first mortgage on the Armory. They had no interest in demolishing or developing the property–they just wanted to get their money out of it.
The pension fund submitted the winning bid (in fact, the only bid) at the auction, and wound up owning the building for $350,000–less than what they were owed.
The pension fund, in their turn, sold the building. There have been several owners over the past thirty years. Fortunately, none of the owners chose to demolish it.
The current owner is Calvary Church, which purchased the building in 2014 for $2.1 million. The current tenants are Connects Workspace and Cafe 13.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
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