1000 E South Boulder Rd History - Laserfiche WebLink

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Founding of the Gandy Dancer Restaurant in 1972 Coal Creek Station and the establishment of a restaurant made from rail cars as part of this development were the endeavors of Clifford Brock; his mother, Eva Brock; and William Arnold. They purchased at least part of the real property for the Coal Creek Station development in 1969 and formed the A & B Company. In 1972, they filed the trade name affidavit for the name "Coal Creek Station" with the County. Eva Brock was a well known realtor in the Boulder -Louisville area. The agency she established is credited with having planned developments between Baseline and South Boulder Rd. in the vicinity of 76th St. Her son, Clifford, also worked in the realty business and had a construction business. William Arnold was affiliated with the Arnold Bros. Motor Company of Boulder. According to a recent interview with Clifford Brock, the idea to make a train-themed restaurant next to the railroad tracks evolved out of a desire to turn a negative into a positive. Brock and the other owners thought that people generally wouldn't want to be situated next to trains going by. The purpose of having a train-themed restaurant by the tracks was "to make it enjoyable instead of an eyesore." Brock described some of the challenges of developing this area. A railroad trash dump was located on the narrow piece of land between the main tracks and a railroad spur leaving the main tracks to go eastward. This spur was located immediately north of the houses on Harper Street in the Little Italy neighborhood. The trash dump had been used by the railroad for getting rid of trash from trains going through this area. The dump had to be leveled and the trash disposed of. Brock also stated that in the early 1970s, the City of Louisville required the investors to bring in a drilling rig to conduct drilling tests to determine whether there were underground voids due to coal mining that historically took place under the surface of this property. In 1971, Brock checked around to find out about the availability of old train cars. He originally acquired four boxcars and one caboose that were placed at the site. The two boxcars that are still at the site were purchased from the Colorado Southern Railroad Company. Available information indicates that the cars belonged to a crew that built bridges. One car was originally a shower car with a potbelly stove. The second car has been described as either a sleeping car or a tool storage car. The cars were transported to Louisville on the main railroad line. The caboose was purchased from the Santa Fe Railway. It is said to have been transported to Louisville by flatbed semi -truck. 2