DENVER (KDVR) — Organizations are speaking out after historic buildings were demolished in Burnham Yard, an area rumored to be a new site for the Denver Broncos.
Historic Denver, a non-profit organization that advocates for historic landmarks, said the Colorado Department of Transportation destroyed several historic properties over the weekend at Burnham Yard, a 58-acre area between 4th Avenue and Seminole Street, rumored to be the new Denver Broncos stadium.
Historic Denver said these buildings, which were “reduced to rubble,” were a site where women and people of color were able to work when they couldn’t anywhere else. These buildings included a women’s locker room, the Roundhouse Foreman’s Office, the Steel Car Shop and a testing laboratory.
Burnham Yard destruction (Courtesy of Historic Denver)
Burnham Yard destruction (Courtesy of Historic Denver)
“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,” President and CEO of Historic Denver John Deffenbaugh said.
While the nonprofit said this happened without any engagement or consultation with stakeholders, this has been in the works for a long time.
FOX31 obtained several letters between the Colorado Transportation Investment Office, a division of the CDOT, and History Colorado, including a letter sent in May, which said CDOT met with representatives from Historic Denver, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the La Alma/Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association to discuss the next steps.
CDOT also proposed mitigations for some historic properties to History Colorado, which they later agreed to and told CDOT in a letter that only two historic properties were affected: the Backshop/ Locomotive Shop and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
History Colorado said those mitigations would include having the next buyer keep the shop, as well as making a documentary on the history of the Burnham Yard property.
“None of the buildings found to be historically eligible by the State Historic Preservation Office are a part of this cleanup effort, and we are committed to working through the historic eligibility process for those structures. The historic easements will remain on those structures after the sale of the property,” the Colorado Transportation Investment Office said in a statement.
On July 28, the office also sent a notice to the Denver Landmark Preservation, La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, Historic Denver and Baker Historic Neighborhood Association about the plans.
Despite the letters, Historic Denver and the local Registered Neighborhood Organization for La Alma Lincoln Park are still claiming that this was done without warning.
“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,” David Riggs of the local Registered Neighborhood Organization for La Alma Lincoln Park said in a statement.
While it has been rumored that this is a new site for the Broncos ever since there were recent land purchases by the team or its partners in the former Burnham Yard rail yard area, the Broncos’ current Empower Field at Mile High Stadium lease runs through 2031 and the team is eyeing other potential sites.
