Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2012 03 19

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CURRENT STATUS The applicant, Michael Decker, has submitted a demolition application to begin the process for demolition of the Grain Elevator located at 540 County Road.Staff has been working with Mr. Decker over the past 12 months to determine how the Grain Elevator could work into future development scenarios. In January 2011,the City of Louisville paid fora structural assessment of the Grain Elevator to understand the stability of the structure and potential adaptive reuses. A copy of the structural assessment has been attached for your reference. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Information from Historian Bridget Bacon. This building is considered to be one of the area’s last remaining wooden grain elevators. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 due to the elevator being “historically and visually the most significant structure associated with the agricultural history of the community.” It is also listed on the Colorado Register of Historic Places. Its stacked plank construction style is considered to be rare. This building was constructed by John K. Mullen, an Irish immigrant who built and operated a number of grain elevators in Colorado in his capacity as President of the Colorado Milling & Elevator Co. Besides being associated with John K. Mullen, the building was also associated with the Moore and Thomas families. The elevator was managed for about 35 years by Louisville resident Howard A. Moore and then his son, Donald Moore. In 1957, it was purchased by Louisville residents Charles Thomas and Quentin Thomas. Charles Thomas was the brother-in-law of Donald Moore. As shown below, this building is connected with not only Boulder County’s agricultural heritage, but is also connected with the area’s railroad history, mining history, and the history of the Irish in Colorado. It was owned by an outsider before it became a locally owned Louisville business several decades later. It is located in Louisville’s historic downtown area. A 1918 article shows that Louisville area wheat farmers at times disputed Denver Post Mullen’s practices, not unlike similar conflicts of the time between Louisville coal miners and the mining companies. The articles states: The wheat growers of the Lafayette-Louisville district are up in arms over the practices of the J.K. Mullen elevator there. Instead of the $2.20 per bushel price fixed by the federal food commission, the elevator is paying only about $1.00 or less for the highest grade wheat. . . . [The] Mullen explanation of a deduction of the freight to Kansas City does not explain this entire discrepancy. . . . [The farmers] are told that the purchase of wheat may be abandoned if there is any complaint. According to the UC-Denver report Eastern Plains and Front Range Grain Elevators of , citing Convery’s biography of Mullen, Colorado 2