DENVER — A fire Monday has gutted the former Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Burnham Shops coach building.
The Denver Fire Department reports it responded “an abandoned warehouse fire” early Monday. The building was fully involved by the time firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported and the cause is under investigation.
The building had been unoccupied since February 2016, when Union Pacific closed the shop complex [see “Denver’s Burnham Shops closing …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 11, 2016]. The property was sold in June to the Colorado Department of Transportation, which plans to use some of the land for an expansion of Interstate 25 and some for the Regional Transportation District light rail system [see “Digest: Deal appears to be in place …,” News Wire, May 28, 2021].
The coach shop was the oldest remaining building at the shop complex, built in 1901 but believed to have incorporated parts of a structure built in 1881 or 1885. The L-shaped one-story brick structure was once used to house Rio Grande’s ski train.
Abandoned buildings are a Mecca for the homeless and the curious who knows?
Hum. I wonder if the building was in the way of Interstate 25 or the regional transportation district light rail system.
You implying that the CODoT was trying to save money? I’d lean more towards transients myself…but I always love how a brick building can be destroyed by fire…and don’t go on about the rafters and other wood components, I’m aware of those. What I want to know is when we’re going to switch away from wood and turn to steel frameworks(even for housing, eliminate the wood and termites will be less of a nuisance).