Loss of a historic building

**Livingston** · 19th October 09, 07:08 PM

This is more for those that have been to Estes Park for the Longs Peak Irish/Scottish Festival and Games. I had a networking meeting down in Ft. Collins today, about an hour from home. As I was leaving I went through a LARGE cloud of smoke so stopped and talked to the people at the grocery store. Apparently the call on this fire went in about 5:30 this morning and the person I talked with just knew that it looked like it was on the main street through town. As I turned onto the main highway, I looked back downtown and it looked like it was near one of the oldest buildings in town. Now, for those across the pond, nothing here is REAL old with nothing much older than the last quarter of the 1800's.

Well, I got home about 3 and went over to see what happened. The building that burned was the Park Theater Mall which was build in the early 1900s and was originally a bus barn for the old buses used to transport early tourists through what has become Rocky Mountain National Park. We were very lucky in that the Park Theater did not catch fire or receive much if any damage. Here are a couple pictures.

The white building with the tower is the theater and is right up agains the destroyed building

What's left of the old bus barn.

When I hear about the cause, I'll let you know.

**piperdbh** · 19th October 09, 07:11 PM

That ain't cool. I hope no one was injured.

**KFCarter** · 19th October 09, 07:30 PM

That's a sad sight. Thank goodness the theatre didn't burn.

**Galician** · 20th October 09, 12:29 PM

Would you have any photos of the building before it was destroyed?

**cavscout** · 20th October 09, 12:42 PM

That is very unfortunate. Even though "Old" buildings in the US are rather young by European standards, they are still a great loss. Considering the amazing events that have unfolded in Colorado alone over the past 300+ years. The roll those buses played in the creation of our National Parks system and the resulting protection of some geological formations very unique to that region.

**Livingston** · 20th October 09, 09:09 PM

Still waiting to find out what the cause was. No one was injured which I think was very lucky. The Estes Fire Chief has praised the help he received from all the surounding fire departments and especially the one from Loveland. I will try to find a pic or two from years past.