According to Historic Denver, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of the city’s historical places, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which owns the historic Burnham Yard site, reduced five historically significant buildings to rubble over the weekend without any engagement or consultation with stakeholders.
According to a press release from Historic Denver, buildings on the Burnham Yard site were demolished with no community consultation or engagement with the City and County of Denver or local nonprofit Historic Denver. These buildings represented the social history of Burnham Yard, a site where women and people of color were able to work at a time when this was not possible elsewhere. Not only were these buildings of importance to the stories of both the city and state, but their retention could have anchored any new development or stadium.
In 2021, CDOT paid the Union Pacific Railroad $50 million for the property, with HPTE and OEDIT each kicking in $7.5 million—for a total of $15 million—and the remainder being financed through a bank loan. At that time, CDOT anticipated using around 17 acres of the rail yard to relocate train tracks, allowing for improvements to I-25 through central Denver, while simultaneously reserving right of way for Front Range Passenger Rail and for an expansion of congested RTD light rail lines. The rest of the land was to be used for economic development or affordable housing.
The 58-acre plot of land is located next to other properties purchased this year by LLCs connected to the Denver Broncos football team. CDOT now plans to sell the site.
David Riggs of the local Registered Neighborhood Organization for La Alma Lincoln Park said: “The Neighborhood Association had no warning that these historic building were going to be torn down. The demolition of these historic 1 buildings shows enormous disrespect for the history of our neighborhood. Many of our neighbors had family members who worked at Burnham Yard. This action is an insult to the history of the community and disrespectful of the influence that the railroads had on the growth of Denver.”
Buildings that have been demolished include:
- Women’s Locker Room: The Women’s Locker Room was purpose-built to accommodate the substantial number of women hired at Burnham Yard to supplement jobs normally held by men who had been called to serve in World War II, a unique and important story.
- Roundhouse Foreman’s Office: The Roundhouse Foreman’s Office was the oldest extant shop building at Burnham Yard and was an excellent example of railroad depot design, even though it never served as a depot. It is historically significant for its use as a boiler room for the previously adjacent roundhouse, an office for the roundhouse foreman, and most notably as a washroom and lockers for African American roundhouse workers during the period of segregation during and after World War II.
- Steel Car Shop: The Steel Car Shop was significant for its role as the primary shop at Burnham Yard for constructing and servicing the railroad’s steel rail cars as the Denver & Rio Grande transitioned from wooden to steel cars after World War II.
- Testing Laboratory: Built in 1937, the Testing Laboratory was the site of innovations that significantly cut operating expenses related to lubricating and fuel oils.
President and CEO of Historic Denver, John Deffenbaugh said: “Demolishing such historically significant buildings without engagement with local communities, Historic Denver, or the City and County of Denver is deeply immoral. The narrative that we can have either older buildings or new development is a false choice. With vision, older buildings and new development can go hand-in-hand, as examples across our city and the country illustrate. Coors Field was inspired by Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a sports stadium that also integrates historic older buildings. The Colorado Department of Transportation has demolished buildings that once told the story of our city, state, and America at large. The opportunity to integrate them into a future development or stadium district has been erased, as has the story they once told.”
