Gates Rubber Company - Demolition Diary part 11

Been a while since I checked the demolition progress at Gates Rubber Factory. 

Yup, still going on! 

So let's hop into that time traveling machine and go all the way back to mid-morning, on Sunday, February 23, 2014. I told her that I was going to drive up to Gates for pictures, and she asked me to bring food home. "How about Griff's?" 

I lived in this apartment from May 2006 to May 2018. It worked just fine when I was single, but when Laura joined in 2012, we outgrew the place quickly. The deck faced south, with Big Dry Creek flowing beside a tree lined bike path. With the Rocky Mountains visible to the west, the view from our third floor balcony was worth an extra few percentages of the skyrocketing rent. Standing on that deck, enjoying a cigarette, watching all of these things from my third story perch, was a definite highlight of my Colorado time.

We also had an excellent view of the Littleton High School baseball and soccer fields.

Not that I'd particularly want to go back to those years, I get very homesick when I look at pictures like this...

Well, let's set out for Broadway north.

Kmart is obviously no longer there (they closed in 2017), but Del Taco and Meineke still are. Could really go for a Del Beef Burrito. Been over 6 years since I had one.

7 Eleven, at Broadway and Tufts, was a frequent stop for road drinks and smokes.

I miss certain unique Broadway businesses, that I drove by thousands of times over the years. Like the A&A Tradin' Post featuring Ace Hardware. There is A LOT of stuff crammed into this store. Layout is pretty similar to a labyrinth, with narrow aisles of tall shelves and everything you'd need to fix anything. A lot more pleasant to deal with than Home Depot.

Gold Sound sells high end stereo equipment. Upon a December 1997 visit, Audiophile Trav was not impressed. 

I know nothing about that kind of thing.

Here's where I leave Broadway to make my first photo stop...

At the Englewood High School demolition!

Another photo project, similar to Gates, that I haven't started writing yet.

Wasn't that long ago the Hampden Pet Hospital was selling really expensive wooden playground structures.

Building looked a lot more festive back then...

For some reason, I didn't take any more pictures between here and Gates. That's very unlike me.

The condition of Broadway's pavement in front of Gates was atrocious. After all of the former rubber factory was removed, this segment of Broadway was redone. Plus a few blocks in each direction. Now with center islands and defined turn lanes, plus expanded room for the busses to stop along the side of the road.

No new demolishing has taken place on this corner of the factory.

Looking down, I see a concrete stamp in the sidewalk that will soon be outdated. Been here since 1977. Gates was still going pretty strong here in 77.

In recent weeks (of February, 2014) demolition has been focused on this area, and hasn't moved any further south.

Workers have been concentrating on clearing out the segments of factory, further back on the property. Likely because of different building materials used in the different times the factory saw new additions. it would make the on-site sorting easier if you didn't end up with a mixture of debris.

Oldest parts of the factory sitting behind some exposed basement, with excavators inside.

That's a big metal bolt looking thing. No idea what it is.

Much deeper look into the structure than I've ever seen.

Some umbrella support poles awaiting on-site crushing, to then be hauled someplace south down I-25.

The end of the newer part of the factory. Demolition peeled back more layers to show what used to be smaller rooms on each floor. You can see by the basement wall, there isn't a lot access between the old and new in the lowest level.

More umbrella support poles.

From the looks of this section, demolition will break through the back wall soon.

One distinct feature on the Gates property were these short brick walls. They used to box in what were nicely landscaped grounds. Some stuck around longer than others, but all were eventually taken out.

The RTD Park & Ride overflow lot. I usually parked in here for taking Gates photos. Today I parked on the opposite side of Broadway. Parallel to no other cars, because the apartments were not yet open for lease. Since nothing new had been destroyed in any other area of the property, I didn't feel the need to walk all the way around the fences. 

Yeah, RTD Light Rail Train car! "Why Not Now?"

Wait... What?

Speaking of the landscaping areas...

I'd been wondering how much longer this bench was going to stay around. It was the last one standing.

And the always present used tampon applicator. 

Every time I see one of these laying close to the sidewalk, I just want to know the story. 

Was that really the best place for that?

Likely just whipped out of a passing car... But if you intentionally went to an Abandoned Rubber Factory for routine maintenance, probably should do some serious evaluating soon...

Walking south from where I started. Assuming demolition will start at this corner, it would spell the end of that stairwell leading down to the brown door with that yellow sign that I can't read on it. Like this stairwell. Been looking at it for a couple months now, when I walk around here.

An over the shoulder shot as I made my way to the sidewalk.

Soon the giant "SIN" in the 4th floor windows will be gone. It's been there for at least 15 years.

Other tagged and missing windows, along the east facing walls.

It would suck to work on the first floor. All of your windows are covered by rusty sheet metal. You couldn't even take a couple of seconds worth of mental break to look at traffic on Broadway. Just watch the rust form as you contemplate hurling your body into whatever machinery you were running.

Wonder what happened to these signs? I really would have liked one... 

(Preferably one that wasn't poorly tagged...)

What is inside that vault???

Looking north across the Gates employee parking lot. 

And how are those parking lot lights still on? 

I walked to the corner of Broadway and Mississippi, looked to the west, but didn't see anything new going on at this angle of Gates. For much of the last month, the demolition crews have been focused on clearing the northern part of the factory first. Which you couldn't see from the areas on the south side of the building, that you could still walk to. The RTD Light Rail and BNSF Rails are very clearly fenced off, less than 100 feet away from the Gates building. 

Soon enough, there will be something to see from that side. 

This used to be Gates Credit Union, with the parking lot to the right. My sister worked here in the late 1990's. The building was demolished in October 2005. The triangle shaped land east of Broadway, north of Mississippi, extending to Logan Ave., was cut into its odd shape by I-25 to the north. Which didn't even exist when Gates was establishing its presence in south Denver. When the factory was at its peak, Gates Medical Center, business offices, the previously mentioned credit unions were here. Soon it will be hundreds of apartments.

And Sprouts.

Looking northwest, on the Logan Street bridge, crossing I-25 and the light rail to Highlands Ranch and Aurora. This route takes me where I need to go, as Broadway itself becomes a southbound only one way, where it crosses I-25. So I need to approach from the north...

To make my turn into Griff's parking lot!

To pick up lunch for Laura and I. 

Stupid camera cord ruined this picture. And I didn't notice it in time to take another. 

Griff's closed their two Colorado locations, in July 2015. 

I was sad.

My story about Griff's appears here. I completely jumped the gun on Griff's... 

Needs to be re-done at some point. It was posted in July, 2017, before the building was even demolished. 

******

March 9, 2014

I took a week off without going back for Gates photos. All of the good pictures were taking place too far away from the photography points where I wasn't trespassing by standing there. Not wanting to extend my missing week streak, for fear of abandoning it due to apathy. I drove over after work, parked amongst the empty streets wrapping the new apartments and started at the same point I did two weeks ago.

Demolition has indeed now broken through the back walls of Gates.

For an ongoing major demolition project, they've cleaned it up pretty nice...

This whole side hasn't changed in weeks. 

A collage of pieces of Gates. Busted up umbrella support columns, big ass pipes, sorting piles of cement and rebar, and the last layer of factory segments standing. Plus a fire hydrant that has outlived its usefulness.

The 2 week later look at the rooms along this exposed wall...

The more long distance looks I've gotten into Gates, the more I understand the warning I always saw from urban explorers making multiple trips to Gates. You shouldn't go alone, and you can very easily get lost. There are a lot of open spaces, and also areas that would have likely closed off in dead ends. You can see some of the rolling overhead doors on the left side of the picture. 1st and 2nd floor are open, 3rd floor is half down, 4th floor is closed. Add in the fact that so much of the place would have had no light, and I could easily see getting lost if you didn't know where you were going. 

Yeah... I'll just admire it from a safe distance...

I wonder if they're just going to let that metal structure fall off the roof...

If you look real close, there's some strange sentiment spraypainted on the lower right side of the sheet metal wall. My best guess is: "You say no to Ester". I'm probably way off. Operating under the assumption that the character in front of the backwards N of No, is scribbling out the wrong letter. Unless it's a hashtag?

If Ester reads this, please let me know what people are rejecting from you.

For the last 100+ years, you could not see the Rocky Mountains while standing in this spot. Now you could! Those other doomed Gates buildings behind the main factory have to know what's coming. For the last 4 months, they've been watching their creator being slowly disassembled.

Always loved the photo showing intact to gone, in one shot. 

Looking at these pictures, I'm wondering why I decided against using the Park & Ride lot for pictures. I could have gotten very close to recently ripped open areas. Perhaps I could have gotten close enough to clarify what Ester may be guilty of.

Standing on the other side of the fence I'm leaning on, would have given me a better angle at the interior open along the back wall. Since I wasn't thinking about getting better pictures than these, I got in my car and left. I had one other specific photo target in mind for today. 

Of course I'm taking the long way to get there. 

From Gates, I took Mississippi to Platte River Drive.

Looking west up Florida Avenue, on the north side of Ruby Hill.

Not long after I took this picture, South Platte River Drive was widened and resurfaced. This little shack was demolished (and tree removed) during that process. I continued on that route south to Evans Avenue, then turned right.

A look on the Googles shows that Dardano's Flowerland sign is still standing. Unfortunately, it has been sloppily painted over in white. And that kinda sucks.

How long has this house at Evans & Tejon been abandoned? It wasn't being lived-in when I moved here in 1996. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but why is it still here?

Shortly before the intersection with Federal Blvd., was the first location of Cowboba's Steakhouse and Boba Smoothies. 

Cowboba's opened in 2006. They were close enough to my job where they'd deliver.

Plus, they were open until midnight, 7 days a week! 

"Hey, it's 10:30, who wants a New York Strip, baked potato and Texas Toast for $8.25? Alright, that's 5 of us..." A steak dinner for $10, while I'm knee deep in poorly constructed real estate PDF's, is going to win every time. 

On my last night at work before leaving, my boss bought me a steak dinner from Cowboba's. They had moved to a newer and larger location by 2018. The New York Strip was no longer $8.25... I think it was $14, if I remember correctly.

I took Federal south to Yale Avenue, and drove west. This stretch of road is one of my favorites in the Denver metro area. It's a nice calm drive, with the mountains not that far away. Maybe about 15 miles from here?

Turning left to drive south on Wadsworth Blvd. I was a frequent patron of this 7 Eleven, at Wadsworth and Amherst. If you look closely, you can see a hint of the Creekside at Amherst Apartments. My co-horts in giving rides to pizza, Dwayne, Angelo (pizza adjacent) and Cheryl lived here between 1999-2002. (They all moved to a rental house in Littleton, from here. I joined them in 2005) Another pizza driver had a house nestled in the residential streets. So I was in this area often, in those days. 

There used to be a Perkins at Wadsworh and Cornell. I was there fairly often until it closed in 2006(?) It's a Red Robin now. Not sure if there was a massive remodel, or if it's an entirely new building. Back when it was still Perkins, Dwayne and I ate here on Saturday mornings after I got of work, and he was on his way for pizza duty. This was around 2000-2003. You could still smoke inside!

Danny Cash Hot Sauce used to be a Village Inn. Ate here a few times in the late 1990's. Given it's odd access points, you had to make a multiple block U-turn to even get into the lot, if you weren't approaching from the north. I was always coming from Englewood, so it was a pain...

They closed not long after 2000, and moved to a new building about 6 blocks north of here.

Chase Bank was previously Fuddruckers. I think it closed in 2007. That was kind of a sad loss. I wonder what occupies the old see-inside meat show room? That actually is kind of a disturbing feature of a burger restaurant when you think about it.

But how different is it from the live tank at Red Lobster?

I'll have some free range pancakes from IHOP, thank you very much. This may be blasphemous, but my last experience with both products, leads me to prefer pancakes from Denny's. This IHOP is on Cross street. Basically a curved business access road running between Wadsworth and Bowles Avenue. Rob and I ate here a few times. This IHOP is still open today.

But Carl's Jr. is not.

Cheryl and I ate here a few times, when I lived with them at the house in Littleton, between 2005-2006. I do miss the Hardees of the early 1990's. But the Hardees/Carl's Jr. franchises have some decent fast food. There are none around me today. There are none in Littleton either. This location is now a Dutch Bros. Coffee.

Always liked this old farmhouse on Bowles. Located on a decent sized piece of land, surrounded by neighborhoods of upper middle class suburban housing. I commend whomever owns this land for maintaining a small piece of history, smack in the middle of deep suburbs. 

The old Shell gas station at Bowles and Platte Canyon had been demolished several years ago. A sign warning of Circle K's impending arrival had been posted before Shell had even been torn down. It eventually did open here, but it wouldn't be for several more years. (This photo was taken March 9, 2014.)

Just a big buncha geese, hanging out at the rising pond at Federal and Bowles. You can see the water is above ground with several trees sticking out in places. There were times where this pond would almost rise as high as the road beside it. 

EZ Money at Federal and Belleview, was clearly once a Taco Bell. It was demolished in January, 2016.

From here, I wandered through some back streets on my way to the final target of my mission.

I'm just including Taco House at Littleton Blvd. and Datura Street, because I like that little yellow building so much. The food? I don't know... I think you have to build up a tolerance...

Continuing east on Littleton Blvd. until you almost hit Broadway. First, you have to turn right on Bates and find someplace to park. Because the demolition of Littleton Square is worth getting out of the car. The cover photo for Wasted Quarter: Abandoned Englewood, was taken of the King Soopers, on this morning.

I've already covered the Littleton Square demolition, in this story. But I couldn't resist showing this picture again. Walked in and out of those doors hundreds of times over the years. Hey! That's not the frozen food section in front of me!

Time to go home. But first, I need to pick up a Del Beef Burrito!

Make that left turn on Broadway, at Big Dry Creek, stop and get the mail, go upstairs, watch something stupid on the TV, eat my burrito and go to bed in an hour or so.

I knew life wouldn't be quite like this for an overly long period of time. So I did appreciate it when I could do stuff like this every weekend. My life is different in Minnesota. It seems a lot heavier. Colorado was so much lighter. I've never really been able to figure that out. When I lived in Colorado, I never really missed Minnesota. Now that I'm back in Minnesota, I'm quite often feeling homesick about Colorado. 

And that's why I write stories like this.

Just a way to re-live the mundane.

******

I have no real connection to Gates Rubber Company. Other than watching the factory buildings decay and disappear, between 1996 and 2018. My friend Ryan took a liking to the photos of Gates that I'd sometimes post to Facebook, as the demolition was ongoing. 

The last remaining segments of Gates, on July 20, 2014. When I posted this picture, Ryan asked if he could use it for his his Facebook header picture. Which he used from that day, through and probably beyond when I quit Facebook in 2023. Gotta admit, it's probably my favorite picture I took of Gates. He liked the idea of my ongoing series of demolition pictures. Every so often I'd get a message from him: "Going to write about the factory soon?"

Ryan died after a lengthy battle with Brain Cancer, earlier this year.

He and I go back to the 201 Proof Television and 99 Spillihp days. He was probably the most positive and optimistic person I've ever met. I remember quite a few conversations in the mid-1990's where he'd take one of my overly negative statements and tear it apart with logic and optimism. Of course it would be coated in a hint of snark. 

Ryan (right) with his son Jake, at his graduation party, June 11, 2022. 

Even with all of the people around that afternoon, I got to talk to Ryan one on one for a few minutes. He described what he was dealing with and we caught up on our lives. It was held at the Andover, MN, Pizza Ranch, where I got to eat some of their incredible fried chicken, talk to Ryan, then make my quiet escape. Had to admire his positivity and optimism, and he understood what we've been going through with Laura's lung related issues over the past few years.

I didn't know it at the time, but this was the last time we got to have a conversation. 

Ryan did reply when I sent him a text, telling him that Trav had died. He wrote "Thanks." That was exactly one year ago as I write this, November 20, 2023. Ryan died less than five months later. It never occurred to me that he probably wasn't up for talking, because he was really sick. He knew Trav from the 99 Spillihp days as well. I'd hoped to see him at Trav's Memorial, but that probably wasn't possible.

******

April 15, 2024. 

I was at work when I got a text from the Former Freelance Dan (of Wasted Quarter fame!). He wanted to know if I was coming to Ryan's Memorial. I didn't even know about it. I wrote back and said I'd see if I could stop by after work. We were pretty slow, and I told my coworker about it. He told me I should just go now. "No one would care if you left."

You're right!

And that hurts!

But oh well!

Texted Former Freelance Dan back: "F*ck work... I'll be there in 10 minutes."

The memorial was held at Jellybean & Julia's new location, on Coon Rapids Blvd. and Xavis. In the old Mr. Steak, Arnold's, J. Cousieneu's, Grumpies, Willie's, Lenerd's, and The North building. 

Jellybean & Julia's moved to Coon Rapids, after fleeing their Anoka home of 8 years, a few weeks earlier. Tonight would be my first visit to Cory's new restaurant. Cory filled me in on the move, and the limited menu "soft open" until new equipment was delivered. Key being the new smoker, which he hoped to have going by the end of April.

Cory and I also go back to the 201 Proof Television and 99 Spillihp days.

Cory (second from left) and some guy in an Expos jersey, on cable access television, December 29, 1994. 

Now THOSE were the days...

I was pleased to see the autographed photo of Tone E. Fly, has made the move from Anoka to Coon Rapids. Previously recognized when Trav and I ate dinner at Jellybean & Julia's in Anoka, before seeing The Residents play at the Cedar, in Minneapolis, in March 2023. That was an incredible show. And worth your time to read my Residents story. If you like that sort of thing.

Cory and Ryan had been friends before I met either of them. Cory told me he was upset that Ryan never got to see Jellybean & Julia's open their new location. He'd been very supportive of Cory starting the restaurant. He also expressed sadness that Trav wasn't around to see the new restaurant either. Trav drove to Anoka at least every other week to eat, because he loved the food there.

After his first brain surgery, Ryan held a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy themed party at his house. Excess books from that day were available to anyone who wanted them. Ryan numbered each copy, which coincided with a scavenger hunt set up around his house. The sentiment from the book and Ryan's mindset was "Don't panic." Knowing Ryan as I did, it was a very appropriate sentiment. That was how he lived his life. It was so opposite of me, that I almost had to admire that quality. 

I have no clue how to feel optimistic or positive.

Jellybean & Julia's was decked out in Ryan photos and memorabilia, to celebrate his life. He was a few years younger than me, but still roughly the same age. Looking at his childhood photos and relating them to myself at those ages. Puts things in perspective.

March 19, 2004. 

20 years ago, when this place was known as Grumpies, The Melvins played a show right where the photos of Ryan are now. So he and King Buzzo have shared the same stage! I covered that night in my 2018 story: "The Coolest Coon Rapids has ever Been!" And yes, I know that I'm misspelling Grumpies. But you don't why.

Before retiring due to illness, Ryan worked in forensics for the Anoka County Sheriffs Department. His mind was a good fit for that kind of work. 

As long as I'd known him, Ryan was big into Legos. Didn't have much use for manuals. He preferred to build his own creations out of multiple sets. Looking for unique pieces to incorporate into whatever he was building. I remember this massive spaceship he built in the mid 1990's, that had all sorts of rotating parts and elevators and hidden compartments. It was amazing to come up with that without a written out plan.

I was surprised to see a table set up with memories of Ryan's friends. The display included several issues of Wasted Quarter and some of the Former Freelance Dan's comic zines. 

Ryan himself was featured on the back cover of Wasted Quarter issue 23 (March 1996).

We were hanging out one morning after my 99 Spillihp shift (Ryan was working an overnight gig, like myself), and he wanted to go to Northtown when they opened. He needed to submit a photo to the community college drama department, for the program of a play he was acting in. He hoped the Picadilly Circus arcade would have one of those photo booths that would take a series of pictures and print them out on a strip. One of them would surely suffice. 

Problem being, Picadilly Circus had such a photo booth, but this is what he got.

It was hilarious. But he was upset because he wasted money on something he couldn't use. So I gave him the money he spent on. Buying the rights to the picture, for use as the back cover for the next Wasted Quarter. 

That issue was not on the table.

After his Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy themed party, I'd intended to give him a framed copy of this picture. I printed it out. I even bought a cheap frame for it. And that plan never developed any further.  

When I first saw Cory in the new Jellybean & Julia's, I asked him: "Is that seriously the hood from Ryan's old car?"

Yes it is!

Damn! I remember him driving that car up to the Spillihp, with however many people he was hanging out with that night. Now the hood is hanging on the wall of Cory's restaurant. People are signing the hood in tribute to Ryan tonight. 

Cory's brother Nate showed me this picture, attached to one of the boards. 

He told me that I took it. I may have, but I don't remember. Might have been Benno and not me. Either way, it's a mid to late 1990's picture showing some of the rotating cast of characters, that would hang out on the overnight shift at the 99 Sphillip. Ryan is second from the right. 

99 Spillihp closed in 2007, and was demolished in 2010. (Given an online eulogy, part one and part two, in 2018) I worked there from 1993-1996, and again in 2004-05. It wasn't a serious job. I was paid to hang out with my loitering friends. Ryan was one of them. Back in the days of cable access television shows and hanging out in large groups, wherever parents are not. 

Those days don't last forever, and eventually everyone moves on and does their own thing.

That's life.

Then something happens, and you get to briefly see these people again.

But it's not to watch Edward Penishands in Matt's basement, then screaming "Mikhail Kravets" by the pool at 3 in the morning, until the cops show up.

Now we meet up when one of us dies. 

While it was good to see people from the past again, Ryan came too soon after Trav. 

This sucks. I'm a few months from turning 50. So I'm a lot closer to the age where we all start to die off, than the age where we hang out for no reason at all. Happens to everyone. It's inevitable. One day it'll be my turn, and a few people will show up to tell stories of gas stations, crossword puzzles with farting duck cartoons, Name Redacted Star and anti-smoking puppet shows.

Maybe?

Before I left, I snapped a picture of this napkin, left on one of the tables by someone I don't know.

Just insignificant doodles, but they meant something to the person holding the pen.

Rest in peace, Ryan.

I will write about the factory soon.