From the Golden Fire Department: (
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At 3:51 PM, on November 3rd, the Golden Fire Department responded to a structure fire at the Old Capitol Grill in the historic downtown area of Golden. Upon arrival fire crews were met with heavy fire on the roof and second floor of a two story ordinary construction building. This building was built in 1863 and served as the Territorial Capitol for Colorado until statehood was declared and the capitol moved to Denver.
This building did not have a sprinkler system. A second alarm was immediately requested bringing mutual aid departments to the scene. Initial efforts consisted of an offensive attack from Side C of the structure but within 10 minutes, the Incident Commander declared an evacuation of all fire personnel from the structure and a defensive operation began. Several master streams were utilized as well as numerous hand lines to control the fire. After major knockdown of the fire, offensive crews were allowed to cautiously re-enter the building on the second floor to extinguish remaining fires. This fire was declared under control at 4:50 PM.
From Wikipedia: (
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After a nearly catastrophic fire gutted the rear upper floor with water heavily damaging the rest of the building on November 3, 2005, the interior was stripped completely and building thoroughly reinforced, a new rear replacement roof installed, and new more historically accurate upper story windows installed. The distinctive row of chimneys on the 12th Street side, mostly missing since being pared down in 1933, were restored, making the building look more historic after the fire than it did before.
From Tour of Historic Downtown Golden: (
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William Austin Hamilton Loveland teamed up with Colorado's first Masonic Lodge to build Golden's first brick storefront, with ornate fanlight arched doors and windows, in 1863. After adding two additions, this building housed the Colorado Territorial Legislature in 1866-67 when Golden served as the capital of Colorado. Loveland's Mercantile, in business since 1859, continued to serve on the first floor of this building to an age of 119 years, one of the longest business tenures in Colorado history. While the Territorial government met here Edward Louis Berthoud, Loveland's close business associate, ran the Territorial Library in what is now the rear room of the first floor. After the addition and removal of a third floor in 1868 and 1923 and the total renovation of its Avenue storefront in 1905 and 1923, as well as 57 years of Mercantile ownership by the prominent German family of Golden Mayor Nicholas Koenig, this building was honored by the National Historic Register. Inside one may see the original blueprints to the Coors Building and the Koenigs' two-ton Debold safe installed in 1905, and dine in the old Territorial Library room.
Adolph Coors, prohibited by law from bottling at his brewery, leveled most of the historic 1873 Anselm Dold bakery to make way for his new bottling plant. Charles Sitterle, who with brother Jules long ran the famed Cracker Works in Central City and Golden, ran the storefront of this building as a saloon once contractor Perre O. Unger completed it. Designed by brothers Albert, Harold, Viggio and William Baerresen of Denver, the Coors Building long served as the City Market of Coors' fellow German immigrant John Treffeisen. In 1992 it was linked with the neighboring Loveland Block and today serves as part of the Old Capitol Grill.
Great footage of the fire can be seen here: (
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