Burger King - Columbine Square - Littleton, CO

Hypothetically speaking, let's go get a Whopper!

And none of that meatless garbage sandwich nonsense...

Or any of those creepy tacos...

Which you couldn't have picked up at this Burger King location, on January 7th, 2018...

Definitely not two months later, on March 10, 2018...

All the earlier I can bring you back would be September 8th, 2013. That date marks the first time I photographed this Burger King, which ceased to be in 2006. After closing, the building was taken over by Big Papa's BBQ. They only lasted a year or two, and the building had been vacant ever since.

So let's go back in time, to September 8th, 2013, and take a look at a former flame broiler building of beef.

And then watch it fall into ruin!

A new Burger King was built a few blocks east on Belleview, which closed this store in 2006. 

Columbine Square was built in the 1970's, and sits on an approximate 15-acre parcel of land. As a shopping center, the network of smaller buildings held about 80,000 square feet of retail space. But it was just plain obsolete as a retail draw. Efforts were underway to build a massive apartment cluster on the site, and the owners hoped to have demolition completed by the end of 2013.

Previously anchored by a Safeway grocery store on the west end of the shopping center, but they eventually closed the underperforming store. This brought down the commercial value of the entire complex. Repurposed as the Littleton Prep charter school, this space didn't bring in any new business. The school left Columbine Square in Spring 2013, then the shopping center's owners forced out all remaining businesses in August, 2013.

The story of Columbine Square is an interesting one, with a fiery finish! But that's for another time...

If you think the Burger King was heavily photographed, that's nothing compared to the amount of pictures I have of the entire property.

I stopped by this Burger King drive thru with some frequency, when I lived in Littleton. I moved back to Colorado in May of 2005, and this was a convenient stop on my way home from work. Their drive thru was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Awesomely, they would make me a burger instead of fake egg sammiches at 7am.

The classic Bacon Double Cheeseburger (no mustard, add onions) was a welcome addition to my typical food rotation of Safeway microwave bean & cheese burritos, Safeway brand butter flavored rice cakes and Safeway Berry Crackles! Sure we had a kitchen, but with 5 of us living there, no one wanted to cook.

Safeway was just a few blocks from the house I was staying at, and closed in May, 2015. 

It was demolished in 2017. But for that year I lived nearby, a ton of cheap empty calories was purchased at that store.

But I was talking about Burger King. So let's go back in time to September 8th, 2013.

Actually, let's go back two more days, to September 6th. 

That was the day I drove into the parking lot of the former All Star Sports Bar next door, to take this picture of the King's south side. It was sunny that afternoon.

And back to September 8th, when I was walking instead.

Looking the opposite way up the drive thru. The back end of the All Star Sports Bar is on the left. I remember this restaurant going by the name of Dewey's American Grill for a brief time. It had a dark brown color scheme instead of grey and white.

I'll cover Dewey's All American Star Sports Grill Bar some other time.

Looking inside the drive thru window, that used to hand me those tasty Bacon Double Cheeseburgers, only 8 years earlier.

Soon after Burger King closed, the interior was lightly renovated and the store reopened as Big Papa’s BBQ. But that building is still that unmistakable classic early 1980's style BK architecture. The chain used that store format (with size variations) nationwide.

In 2013, I was still new at taking interior photographs through dirty, but uncovered windows, while fighting sun reflection. I'd get better at doing this, but you get the idea here...

Since Big Papa left, the building has sat vacant. At the point of these pictures, that was at least 3 years. Most of the equipment had been removed from the lobby, with only a mess left behind.

While this half of the restaurant looked close to still being open for business. Wish I would have tried for some better pictures of the grill area and the open restroom door.

Former outdoor seating area. There used to be iron bars between the brick posts. Not sure when they were removed. The horizontal supports in the roof, used to hold the Burger King sign. I don't remember if Big Papa's BBQ had a sign facing Federal Ave. However, they did leaving their blinking X-Mess lights attached to the roof. Where they remained until the building was demolished.

Inside the front doors. Still looks very 1980's Burger King to me.

Big Papa supported the MLB Extra Innings package through DirecTV. Had I known, or wanted to, I could have come here to watch Twins games and eat greasy BBQ. Only between 2007 and 2009-ish though.The still open bank across the access road can be seen in the reflection.

Someone had ditched at least two of those heavy-ass televisions that became obsolete around the time Burger King left this dumpster fence to Big Papa. Up until the fence was put up around the property, a bunch of TV's were dumped around the grounds on a regular basis. As great as they were 25 years ago, they are a pain to move and get rid of, if you still have one laying around.

Unfortunately, this was the last picture I took of Burger King that day. New to the idea of using these photographs to tell these stories, I was nowhere near as thorough as I should have been in taking them. I didn't even take a full building shot on the main entrance side on my walk.

Snapped this shot a couple of weeks later on my way to the bank. 

And finally the main entrance photo I needed, a few days later. 

Good thing this place was so conveniently located. 

Unfortunately, I neglected to take advantage of this, and never took the time to take the better interior shots I needed, before a security fence was placed around the entire Columbine Square shopping center property. Including Burger King and the All Stars Sports Bar.

Not even serving frozen food on February 28th, 2015.

On June 6th, 2015, I decided to take advantage of the nice day and walk around the perimeter of Columbine Square, and document the decay from the fence's point of view. 

There's been some tagging cover-up going on. With black being the perfect subtle color to blend in. It was also used on the atrium window. Apparently the lock on the front doors became easy to pry open, given the heavy chains wrapped around the handles.

The drive-up menu board also got some black cover-up. 

As did the All Star Sports Bar behind it.

I couldn't tell if any more TV's fit behind the dumpster fence.

Undetectable Panoramic Photoshoppery! You can't buy this kind of photo manipulating skills!

Looking across the Burger King parking lot, towards the east end of Columbine Square. The building on the left was a ballroom dancing school, the building on the right was last home to The Break Room. A pool hall and bar, that I drank at a few times over the years. It was when I saw people hauling equipment out of the Break Room, loading them onto a truck outside the front door, that I knew something was going on at the center. That was a few days before the first set of pictures, from September, 2013.

As I was walking around and taking pictures of the area that day, I knew I'd aroused the suspicion of the guy who was clearing out Colorado Dance Sport. After snapping my pictures of Burger King, I walked up and started talking to him. He and his wife had just closed up the dance school a few days before, and were packing up shop that Sunday afternoon. I introduced myself and said that I was there getting photos of the place before it was torn down. He told me that it would be at least a few more months before that happened. Local residents were fighting the plan to demolish the shopping center for apartments.The city had to re-zone the property before any work could be started. It would likely be held up for a while.

But again, that's another story that I'm not trying to tell here.

Back around to the drive thru side. More black paint has appeared on the windows, covering the inevitable graffiti. Amusingly, it looks as if the building has thrown in the towel.

Continuing around the back, more paint on the windows and a wildly overgrown plant in the the third planter. 

The other two were empty.

One of the windows next to the extended food/money exchange, has been smashed in. Plywood -with no anti-tagging black paint- has been affixed over the new opening. Building is starting to look a little rough...

My camera paid the former BK another visit on January 24th, 2016.

Not a whole lot of change here in the last 6 months. 

Let's check back in another 6 months...

June 19, 2016...

More plywood is covering new holes. 

Extra plywood is being kept on site, for the next time a new entrance needs to be sealed. 

Most of the remaining windows have been covered by black paint. 

Must be some really cool secret stuff going on inside that they don't want us to see...

Nature is doing a good enough job of hiding the building on it's own.

Wish I could remember the size of these trees from 10 years earlier, when I used to pass them while exiting the drive thru.

Those are some pretty cool lights.

And I've always been a big fan of weeds growing through cracked pavement. That little touch adds so much to pictures of abandoned buildings.

If only the sun hadn't been so bright that day, bleaching out the details I would have liked to see. A lot of these pictures were taken by holding the camera above my head, aimed over the covered fence. I couldn't always see the shots I was taking. In cases like this, the sun made everything too bright. That's why I like taking pictures of cloudy days much better.

Drive thru entrance, with two more buildings of Columbine Square behind it.

As I said before, the location of Columbine Square was on a lot of my routes to anywhere, while I lived in Englewood and Littleton. I saw that place all the time, and I always saw that nothing was ever going on here. I decided that I needed to take another round of photos on September 24, 2017.

I usually parked in the lot of the bank, then walked around from there. Given that location, this angle was typically my first shot of Burger King. The drive thru with All Stars Sports Bar in the background.

Then walking over to the decaying restaurant, north side, then around east to the south. Or as much as the security fence would allow me to do. I wasn't going to cross or climb over just to take pictures.

Even more weeds have sprouted in the lot since last summer.

Damage to the front entrance and atrium windows has become a thing. Last year, it was contained to the south side, with this side remaining relatively intact. Plywood now covers the lower half of the front entrance doors, which likely had an access point broken into them. But the chains are gone...

Looking pretty awesome!

That narrow curved drive thru, was one of my favorite features of this Burger King.

Looks like the side window of the atrium has been smashed open. A temporary covering is kind of working, but it looks like they need some more plywood. STAT!

More of the red brick is covered by black paint. Changing the appearance of the east side of the BK. However, that one window is un-painted over! I think I can still see part of the Coke fountain inside!

Someone named Collie lost his football jersey. 

And some other unrecognizable article of reddish clothing. 

More unrecognizable clothing and overgrown shrubbery.

That familiar shot of the Burger King drive thru windows. Taken over the fence, across the north end of the All Stars Sports Bar parking lot.

Merry X-Mess Burger King! Early morning, December 25th, 2017.

Shortly after the first of the year, on January 7th, 2018, I paid my last visit to an intact Columbine Square Burger King. A series of warm days melted most of the snow, and recent drive-by's had revealed some new -and undocumented- urban decay. I decided to make another walk around the shopping center's property that weekend. A mission that became more urgent when I was given news from a co-worker that I just had to see for myself...

Starting off with that familiar shot of the Burger King drive thru windows. Taken over the fence, across the north end of the All Stars Sports Bar parking lot.

With even more new window breakage.

Although the crossed bars still remain in this dining room window.

Going around to the front.

Someone tell Collie to pick up his football jersey.

It's still here.

Are those bullet holes shot into the window? What did that Coke machine ever do to you?

The side window of the atrium has been fully broken out as well.

Even more awesome damage to these windows.

However, the string of X-Mess lights still hang undamaged...

Wait, what's the stock tip? I need to know!

Without leaved trees blocking the view, a very sad and defeated Burger King sits and awaits it's fate.

As the shovel sits ominously behind the drive thru.

Some building's about to go down.

FINALLY.

I don't know at what point over those last two months it actually happened. But the next time I stopped for photos, Burger King and the All Stars Sports Bar were scraped to their foundations. The Columbine Square shopping center was partially demolished.

Looking out at where the north side of the restaurant once was.

And the drive thru.

Across to where All Stars was...

The dumpster area, given a temporary reprieve.

Likely spared since it wasn't harboring any illegally disposed of televisions.

That narrow drive through exit.

A view that hasn't been seen in years. Straight across the land with no Burger King in the way.

Another angle of the drive thru. With lotsa accumulated trash. Thrown over the fence by passers-by.

One of my favorite post-demolition photos. The entire brick floor of the Burger King is exposed, making the footprint of the building appear a lot smaller than it actually was. What must have gone on inside that place for the near decade while it just sat and rot. There were obviously people going inside during it's last few years...

Behind it, some of the last intact buildings of the Columbine Square campus. 

These would soon be gone as well.

But Collie's football jersey survived the whole demolition process...

Hurry Collie! You probably have until they chop up the pavement and concrete to save your gamer!

At least the driveway is clearer than it's been in years.

All Stars Sports Bar used to sit here, behind that big pointy tree.

Different this time, that familiar shot of the Burger King drive thru windows. Taken over the fence, across the north end of the All Stars Sports Bar parking lot.

Only Burger King is no longer there...

Let's check back in a month...

April 8th, 2018. 

Yup, still not there...

One final time, that familiar shot of the Burger King drive thru. Taken over the fence, across the north end of the All Stars Sports Bar parking lot. And not much has changed in the last month.

The Driveway. Looking behind the parking lot to the right, you can see the Break Room is now gone. There's only one piece of Columbine Square left standing, and I'll talk about that in a moment.

Collie... It's still here!

Looking at where the atrium was.

And off in the distance...

Colorado Dance Sport. 

Back in January, 2018, a co-worker told me about a pretty decent sized fire that burned down part of a shopping center in Littleton. But he didn't know where. After doing a little detective work, I found that fire had taken place at Columbine Square! Someone had once again broke into the property, then an acute case of arson broke out where ballroom dancing once was taught.

Next door, there's a nice sized pile of broken Break Room...

We moved out of Colorado at the end of May, 2018. So I don't know if those long rumored apartments ever were built. After watching the shopping center sit abandoned for nearly five years, I was just glad that the property reached it's conclusion before I left the state. I put a lot of effort into documenting the site, and was able to have photographic closure to my story, just in time before I left.

And I'll tell that story some other time.

Goodbye Columbine Square Burger King.

And thanks for the 7am Bacon Double Cheeseburgers of 14 years ago!

******

Pseudo-Update!