October 15, 2020
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 154 | ISSUE 45
Coors announces significant upgrade at Golden plant Three-year project to begin soon, bring 500 workers to Golden at its peak BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Judy Madison and her husband Patrick Madison stand next to the “father” member of his family of triceratops statues created by Pat that are now in a field north of Golden. More photos at Goldentranscript.net PHOTO BY GLENN WALLACE
A Triceratastic new view
BY GLENN WALLACE GWALLACE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Some 66 million years ago, herds of triceratops wandered this land. Back in 1887, paleontologists discovered the first identified triceratops fossils in the Denver area. Last weekend, a small herd of colorful geometric triceratops walked the grasslands again, at the intersection of 56th Avenue and Highway 93, just north of Golden. The Cretaceous creations are the work of Golden sculptor Pat Madison, who might be a familiar name for folks who appreciate the public art already on display in the city. He created the swimming cutthroat trout sculptures in Parfet Park, as well as the butterflies that grace downtown. “I like to do things that match the environment,” Pat Madison said, mentioning the trout and the butterflies as examples of showing wildlife in the location they naturally belong. The triceratops offers a prehistoric tie to that same theme. Judy Madison, who taught for 25
years at Golden High School ,journeyed out to the open grass lot at the corner of 58th Avenue and Highway 93 on Oct. 10, to help install the sculptures. “This guy is my best student.” she said gesturing to her husband. “In fact, he’s turned into a monster,” she added, laughing. The sculptures themselves — consisting of a “daddy” triceratops of roughly lifelike proportions (more than 9 feet tall and 26 feet long), to two “mommies” of medium size, and a baby (about 5 feet high and 7 feet tail to snout) — are made of electrical conduit piping, crimped and bolted together in mostly triangular portions. some of the triangulated panes are filled in with spray-painted wood, some with shiny plastic. Pat Madison said he was largely inspired by the big blue bear sculpture (“I See What You Mean” by Lawrence Argent) that peeks in the window at the Colorado Convention Center, which is also made up of geometric shapes. The Madisons say work on the baby triceratops began years ago, start-
ing with the feet and just working upwards. Pat says working on the bigger members of the family in the last few months has been a good COVID-19 project. “I just did it as I felt like it,” Pat Madison said. Judy Madison admits she was a little sad to see all the dinos leave her yard, but Pat said he intends the entire family to stay together. Sue Thompson, who is one of the owners of the property, said she had know the Madisons forever, and that the sculptures fit in well with her nonprofit, Wildlife Protection Services. “It was probably just decided one night over beers,” she laughs about how the triceratops came to be on the property. So for now, Pat Madison says the horned herbivores will call the grassy corner lot home, serving as a welcome of sorts for drivers headed south along Highway 93. “I hope it makes them laugh and brightens up their life a little,” he said.
Golden’s Coors Brewing plant is about to get a major upgrade. On Oct. 6, Coors held a groundbreaking event in front of the plant where Peter J. Coors, the son of Molson Coors vice chairman Pete Coors, announced that the brewery will be undertaking a significant project to replace the brewery’s fermenting, aging, filtration and government cellars, which date back to the 1950s. “This will make us much more competitive with our breweries across the network,” Peter Coors said. The new facilities will be constructed on space currently occupied by cooling ponds and parking lots at the front of the current plant and extend to just before the plant’s wellness center to the west. “To give you an idea of the size of the project, it is going to be about 200,000 feet under roof, there’s going to be about 45 miles of pipe and about 150 miles of wire that’s going to be put into this building,” said Peter. As part of the project, Coors will also be constructing a large structure to control flooding on Clear Creek. Peter Coors said the brewery has worked with both the city of Golden and Jefferson County as it planned the new flood structure “to make sure it will benefit both the brewery and community.” Peter said construction on the project will be starting shortly with the company targeting to have its first beer get to the cellar in 2023, the year of Coors’ 150th birthday. The company hopes to have the project fully completed in 2024. SEE COORS, P5
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 21
IN THE GAME Esports continues to grow as a competitive outlet for area teens
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