Grant Avenue Church

Listed: 2002

Constructed: 1907

Threat: Development

Closest Town to Resource: Denver

Significance: Grant Avenue Community Church and Sacred Space has graced the corner of South Grant and Cedar in Denver since 1907. As the urban congregation declined, by 2000, developers were pitching a loft project on the site. Faced with the potential building loss, the church donated it to the community. The congregation voted to form a non-profit organization, the Grant Avenue Community Center & Sacred Place, Inc. At the time of its listing, the building needed more than $2.5 million for rehabilitation, much of which was later grant funded. Today, the Community Center is home to a number of local nonprofit and arts groups in addition to ongoing use by several small church congregations.

Listed: 2005

Constructed: 1959

Threat: Demolition

Closest Town to Resource: Denver

Significance: Constructed in 1959 within the former Stapleton International Airport complex, this unique 9,400 square-foot barrel-vaulted thin-shelled concrete hangar was designed by architect firm Fisher, Fisher, and Davis, and engineered by Milo Ketchum (a Denver engineer of national renown). Thirty-three feet at its apex, the thin shell concrete arch is diamond-shaped and spans 160 feet without center supports. Built to house the Fairchild F-27 turbo-prop airliner, Hangar 61 is unlike other hangars from the old airport. The Ideal Cement Company, one of the largest in the industry and one of the most successful companies in Colorado history (owned by the prominent Boettcher family of Denver), built the structure as a private hangar for the company.

In 1995 the City and County of Denver closed Stapleton International Airport, and with no use found for Hangar 61, demolition seemed imminent. Because the building had been vacant since the mid-1990s and no developer had produced a viable rehabilitation plan, Forest City Stapleton, Inc. felt demolition might be the only solution for this “eyesore” in the midst of a dynamic redevelopment project. Colorado Preservation, Inc. purchased the property with the assistance of State Historical Funds in 2007. Ownership later was transferred to 620 Corp, LLC., which had first heard about the building from the Most Endangered Places listing. In 2010, the 200-member Stapleton Fellowship Church purchased the property and added a 300-seat auditorium, state-of-the-art stage, children’s ministry space, and gathering areas for public use.