Historic Colorado Elementary School Transformed into Vibrant Café and Beer Garden, Blending Community Charm with Modern Hospitality

There are bartenders learning new skills in an old classroom from the old Evans Elementary School in Denver. It is on the corner of 11th Street and Acoma Street.

It’s a “soft service” day at the Schoolyard Cafe. There aren’t any maths classes here, but mixology is going to be a big deal. Don’t think of social studies, but of social places.

The school was built in 1904 and hasn’t been used for decades. On April 21, it will reopen as a place to shop and eat.

“This is really special, and we want to make sure we keep it,” said Casey Kirk, who runs the Beer Garden division of City Streets. He used to work at the Lowry Beer Garden and was a part of the adaptive reuse that made that space famous in Aurora.

He and his friends in development have been working on a project like this at Evans.

“From where it began to where it is now, it’s really gone on a journey and fortunate to be a part of it,” he said.

The first companies to open in the building are a beer garden in the space that used to be the school cafeteria and boiler room, as well as a café with window service. On nice days, you can sit outside, and the green area on the side of Acoma Street can be rented out for events. Kirk said that one day the building will have a place for events on the second floor for weddings and other big events. Other classes will also become stores in the future. He also said that the fact that so much of the building has been left alone after decades of not being used is a plus.

“We still have so many original fixtures, the ceilings, the hardwood floors, the copper railing and the grand entrances,” he added. “It’s kind of an untouched gem in that aspect.”

People who own businesses in the area are happy that City Streets worked with the community to find out what they wanted from the site. Kirk said that one of the requests was for common areas and for everyone in the neighbourhood to be able to get into the building.

In the last few years, there has been a lot of growth in the Golden Triangle. Several high-rise apartment buildings have been built in the area next to the Evans plot. But Kirk said that City Streets wanted to take their time with their build and that they couldn’t change the school in any way.

“We weren’t just gonna force our way in,” he stated. “We want the neighbourhood to be able to come and enjoy it, to walk through the first and second floor.”

As Denver has grown over the years, a new trend of preserving buildings and finding new ways to use them has begun to spread. Kirk and other people in the neighbourhood think that Evans School is an important piece of Denver’s history that should be kept.

Kirk said, “Once you lose it, it never comes back.” “You can’t build a building from 1904 again.” We want to keep what we have.

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