Colorado agency demolishes buildings at Denver’s Burnham Yard, stirring preservation backlash

The Colorado Department of Transportation has begun demolishing buildings at Burnham Yard, a historic rail yard that once played a key role in Denver’s railroad industry and is linked to ongoing conversations about a future Broncos stadium.

Several buildings and areas at the site were identified as potentially historic properties under the standards of the National Historic Preservation Act and the State Historic Preservation Office.

The move to tear down buildings has sparked backlash from preservationists and community members, who argue that the demolitions represent a lost opportunity to celebrate and protect Denver’s railroad history.

“This came as a total surprise, and it’s very disappointing that buildings, which told the unique story of this site, have been destroyed in a matter of days,” said Historic Denver’s President and CEO John Deffenbaugh, who was notified about the demolitions over the weekend. “We offered our support to CDOT and they went ahead and demolished these buildings with no consultation whatsoever.”

Demolitions were seen as early as Friday when Post staff visited the site. On Monday afternoon, red bricks, debris and sheets of metal from buildings were found throughout the yard.

In an email statement to The Post, the Colorado Transportation Investment Office, an investment arm of CDOT, said preparations to sell the Burnham Yard site have been underway for some time.

“The first step was to complete the track alignment study and acquire the Burnham Lead Line from Union Pacific, needed right away to ensure safe passage into the site. Now we are proceeding with additional site preparations, including working through the historic preservation process and site cleanup,” CTIO said.

As part of the effort to clean up the site, the agency said it worked with the State Historic Preservation Office and the Department of Personnel and Administration, which manages state properties, to clean up the Burnham Yard site in advance of any sale.

This process includes mitigation of any hazardous materials, such as asbestos, but also demolition of structures.

“None of the buildings found to be historically eligible by the State Historic Preservation Office are a part of this cleanup effort, and we are committed to working through the historic eligibility process for those structures. The historic easements will remain on those structures after the sale of the property,” CTIO’s statement concluded.

A Monday letter from CTIO said the state historical society determined one section of the old Denver & Rio Grande Railroad line that runs through the area is considered historically significant. In addition, the Backshop/Locomotive Shop qualifies for listing on both the Colorado and National Registers of Historic Places.

The rest of the buildings and all other resources at Burnham Yard did not meet the criteria to be listed on the State Register of Historic Places, according to the letter.

What the state did is not illegal, Deffenbaugh said, because state-owned property is exempt from local building code reviews. “But what they have done … represents a stunning lack of vision,” Deffenbaugh said.

Square Moon Consultants, a Denver-based historic preservation and planning services firm, was hired by Historic Denver to research the history of Burnham Yard and identify potentially important structures.

Their report was released in 2017, highlighting six historic buildings, dating from at least 1901 to 1943, with additions through 1965, and three historic site features.

Five buildings have been demolished, according to Historic Denver, including the Roundhouse Foreman’s Office, Women’s Locker Room, Testing Laboratory and Steel Car Shop.

Deffenbaugh said that in late April, the nonprofit, History Colorado and representatives from the local community, had a meeting with CDOT to discuss preservation efforts.

However no follow-up meetings were scheduled, despite several attempts to continue discussions.

“Demolition of these historic buildings shows enormous disrespect for the history of our neighborhood. Many of our neighbors had family members who worked at Burnham Yard. This action is an insult to the history of the community, and disrespectful of the influence that the railroads had on the growth of Denver,” said David Griggs, an at-large board member of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association

Situated in an industrial corridor near the South Platte River and Interstate 25, Burnham Yard played a central role in the operations of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, later known as Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, which acquired the land in 1871.

In 1988 D&RGW became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad through the merging of lines owned by Denver tycoon Philip Anschutz. In 1996, SP merged into its historic partner and rival Union Pacific (UP) Railroad.