Fort Lupton Press 3
April 21, 2022
WINDOWS FROM PAGE 1
stained glass, and Heritage Window Restoration restored the wood that held the framing together. “There were only a few pieces that were not fixable, but the rest of the stained glass was renovated. The original glass could not be sourced out because it was created in 1916,” Kopfmann said. “The funding support for the windows was from the congregation, memorials, funeral support, endowment gifts and community donations.” Fort Lupton’s Sue Davis Hubert, who updated the history of the First Methodist Church from 1836 through 2001, said restoring the stained glass was been a remarkable, long-term project. “The latest restoration was completed because of the diligence of our trustees and was finished this year,” Hubert said. “After many months of windows being removed and restored, one by one, the windows are all returned and beautifully restored.” Hubert relied on written histories from the 1836 First Methodist Episcopal Church history by C.G. Phillip in 1912; “The Echoes from Peak to Plain” by Reverend Beardsley; and the “Church Program” by Phyllis Ceretto. Edessa Anderson wrote the 75-anniversary history book from 1912 to 1933 and Harvey Sells, Iva Thiessen, and Loren Willey wrote the history from 1933 to 1982. The church has gone by many different names throughout its history. It began as the Methodist Episcopal
Church through 1939 before becoming the South Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and then the First United Methodist Church. Seeing a need According to Hubert, Reverend R.R. Adams, chairman of the Colorado Sunday School Association, served as pastor from September 1912 to 1915. He was also the first pastor at the church to conduct the Sunday school. The community of Fort Lupton, seeing the need for extra worship services and Sunday school, increased membership to fund and build a new church. They chose a centrally located lot at the corner of Third and Park avenues to build the new church. They paid $1,000 for the lot and another $10,000 to build the church. Rev. George G. Saywell replaced Adams as head of the congregation from 1915 to 1919. He continued the construction and completed it by 1916. It was built in a missionstyle architectural style with an art nouveau-influence in the design of the stained glass windows. The original stained glass for the whole church was built in 1916 by McMurtry Manufacturing Company of Denver for $387.29. The building committee, including Sanford Davis, William Keetle, U.B. Peckman, H.H. Ewing, W.S. Decker, Wylie W. Burge, C.G. Phillips, H.B. Allsebrook, J.C. Buck and E.S. St. John, contributed to the construction process and completion. Cecil Philip donated the piano, and the Ladies Aid Society donated the pipe organ for sanctuary. The church’s first restoration
Fort Lupton rec center upgrades are front and center BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Fort Lupton’s Recreation Department would love to see some upgrades to the city’s Recreation Center, some of which made their way to the Fort Lupton City Council during an April 12 town hall. Voters approved a bond package in 2002 to build the center. That bond is due to be paid off in November. Parks and Recreation Director Monty Schuman said the original plan was to add another gym, an aquatics area and extra fitness space to the building. “We wanted to pay off the current bond first before looking to expand,” he wrote in an email. “The good thing is this expansion would have minimal impact on staffing. Current staff would be able to accommodate the impact.” Aquatics Coordinator Doug Cook targeted the fitness room – he called it “packed” and Councilman Carlos Barron agreed – more than once during his April 12 presentation. “There’s not a lot we can do in there,” Cook said. Cook also discussed a new, smaller pool — 28-by-60 feet in size and four lanes wide — that wouldn’t use as much water as a regular lap pool. Schuman hopes to expand the aquatic area and add a programming pool. “These pools are much smaller than
traditional lap pools,” he said. “It would serve lessons, water aerobics and senior classes. The water temperatures in these environments are generally much warmer than current lap and leisure pools, making them much more user friendly. “We could use it for a senior aerobics class,” Cook explained. “The temperature is about 92 or 93 degrees. Our pool right now (with two lanes) is about 86. It’s warm, but it’s not what little kids should use.” Cook also outlined plans for two pickleball courts at Railroad Park, across the street from the Rec Center and close to a new outdoor fitness center. He wants to spend about $41,000, including labor and materials, to construct a 64-by-64-foot concrete slab. The total cost for the courts is about $55,000, which would include an 8-foot fence around the courts. Schuman said total cost for improvements was about $10 million, not including a bond payoff plus interest rate, which could add an additional $8 million to $10 million, depending on the rate at the time of purchase. Cook told councilors the price tag “isn’t going to go down.” “Luckily, when we did the original building, we put some things in place to be able to add on,” Cook said. “We tried to anticipate the time when we would look at expansion.”
The Art Nouveau-influenced design on the stained-glass windows from 1916. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD
was in 1970. A second restoration project began in 2017 and was completed this year. Kopfmann has overseen the upkeep of the building since the beginning of the latest project.
“It was very rewarding to see a project where you knew they were failing,” Kopfmann said. “And now that it’s sound and secure, it leaves a good, established history for the city of Fort Lupton.”
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