Virtual Events
6-6:55AM Cardio Lift Interval
10-10:55AM All Levels Yoga Virtual
11-11:55AM Find Your Balance
3-5PM Hard Times Writing Workshop
Real World Events
6:30 to 9AM Bike to Work Day Breakfast @ Jefferson County Courthouse (map)
Breakfast with a delicious smoothie or snack
8-10AM – Bike to Work Day Breakfast @ Craft Coworking (map)
Light breakfast and refreshments
9AM Golden Walks – Wednesday Morning Celebrating Life @ Golden Library
1-2:30PM Using the Cloud: Google Drive @ Golden Library
4-7PM Post Bike to Work Day Party @ Feedback Sports (map)
Join Feedback Sports, CDOT, SRAM, Yeti, West Corridor Transportation Management Assoc, and others in the Feedback Sports parking lot! Enjoy snacks, drinks, great company, and celebrate biking.
6-7PM Marine Heat Waves in the World’s Oceans @ Golden Library
6PM Community Sustainability Advisory Board @ City Hall
The sustainability board will discuss the plan to convert the municipal fleet to electric vehicles. They will also review their work plan for the year. Finally, they will review the greenhouse gas emissions inventory report. Staff will provide updates on the energy code stakeholder group and our community solar plans.
6PM Missing Piece Puzzle Competition @ Buffalo Rose (main venue)
6PM Pong Night @ Coda Brewing
7PM Trivia Night @ Trailhead Taphouse
Live Music
12PM Rock Fest 2022 @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
5PM Pat Travis and Curbside @ Wrigley’s
6:30PM Ross Henderson w/Special Guest Wild Goose Chase @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
6:30PM Open Jam/Mic at Over Yonder Brewing
Golden History Moment
Yesterday, I wrote about the Quaintance/Bradley family’s longtime ownership of Castle Rock and their efforts to figure out what to do with it. They began their efforts in 1908, when they set up a “resort” (really more like a snackbar with binoculars, so people could enjoy the view). In 1913, they built an incline railway to the top and hosted dances in their pavilion. Neither was a great commercial success, so they began to think of mining the granite in the mesas and using the railway to bring down gravel.
A.D. Quaintance considered other possibilities, including making it the grave site of Buffalo Bill (1917), the headquarters of the United Nations (1945), and a bombproof retreat for Congress in case of nuclear war (1950).
Quaintance’s daughters and his attorney son-in-law , Leo Bradley, hoped to quarry the rock, in partnership with fellow landowners, Coors. Neighbors and the county fought this idea for years.
In 1998, Mr. Bradley heard that Nike, based in Bremerton Oregon, might be looking for a new corporate home. They were likely just trying to wangle additional economic concessions out of Bremerton, but Bradley was willing to play that game. He opened talks with them, suggesting that Castle Rock would be a beautiful place for a headquarters. Coors agreed that Nike might make a good corporate neighbor. Golden’s Mayor wrote a letter to Nike, saying he would welcome them.
Word leaked out, and there was great public concern. People had been visiting and hiking that beautiful, vacant land for so long that they considered it their right–despite that fact that it was privately owned. A group called “Save the Mesas” formed, and did their best to squelch the Nike deal and any others that might follow. They pressured Jefferson County Open Space to buy the land. JCOS very much wanted to do that–both North and South Table Mountains had always been on their list of desirable acquisitions, but they were understandably expensive.
Nike, in the meantime, got their concessions from Bremerton and faded away. Arguably, they were never seriously interested in moving from Oregon to Colorado.
In 2004, Coors decided to relinquish most of their South Table Mountain property for a modest price tag of $10 million, a series of charitable donations, and conservation easements. That property is now Jefferson County Open Space.
The Bradley family still owns some parcels, including the focal point, Castle Rock. Open Space owns the surrounding property and refuses to grant access to the Bradley property, so it’s hard to say what they could ever do with it.
Westword wrote a good article back in 1998, when the Nike issue was raging. In includes this gem: “There’s nothing up there but a bunch of rattlesnakes,” says Bradley. “But we’ll come up with a good use for it one of these days. If we don’t, the next generation will.”
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
