Coors Building

Coors Building at the northeast corner of Main Street and Nevada Avenue, June 1906.

he Coors building at 2489 West Main Street was erected about 1905 by Adolph Coors of the Colorado family of brewmasters. The cornice carries a bronze plate with the name "Coors." This two-story brick structure has been in continuous use except for a couple of years in the early 1980s. It is believed that there were originally five stores on the ground floor including a plumbing and hardware business and The Arapahoe Bar, a saloon that sold Coors beer. Upstairs were the offices of the "Littleton Club." By 1928 it housed J. B. Byars Company dry goods in the corner unit and Melvin Pagett's confectionery next door east. The second floor was occupied by attorney W. S. McGintie, dentist R. C. McKelvy, and real estate and insurance man Horatio S. Ramsey.

The building is representative of the turn-of-the-century boom period in Littleton. Noteworthy are the corner entrance, the transom and decorative pilasters at the doorway to the upstairs offices, and the arched brick detail over the windows and doors on the west side of the ground floor. The scale, style, and materials are in harmony with the three other two-story business buildings that occupy the prominent corner at Main Street and Nevada Avenue.

Coors Building, c. 1997.

For many years the first floor of the Coors building held Abe's Cafe and its well-known round table where Main Street merchants gathered for coffee and to discuss the state of downtown Littleton. In 1993 Sue Carbaugh purchased the building and explained to the Littleton Historical Museum Board her renovation plans. The city gave historic landmark designation the same year. With help from the Colorado State Historical Fund, Carbaugh removed a stucco facade to restore the original storefront, installed wood windows where they had been bricked up, and restored all the transoms. The interior was cleaned, repaired, and the original wood floor exposed. A drop ceiling was removed so that the skylight could be used again. Carbaugh opened the lower floor retail space as the attractive indoor decor and gift shop "Seasons." She soon expanded the shop into the one-story building next door east. With retail space and with the upper floor again occupied by offices, the venerable Coors Building has resumed its briefly interrupted commercial use.

Bibliography

Littleton Historical Museum. "City Boards and Programs: Historic Preservation Board. Coors Building. 2489 West Main Street." Littleton, Colo.: The Museum, 1993.

____. Photographic Archives and Biography/Place Name Files.

Photographs courtesy of the Littleton Historical Museum, unless otherwise noted; to order copies, contact the Museum at 303-795-3950.

Compiled by Doris Farmer Hulse

Updated January 2004