By Shannon Lukens.
(Plastic was covering the window Sunday morning, but wood has since been placed on the window Sunday afternoon.)
A window display caught on fire inside Embellishments/Steamboat Art Company, at 9th and Lincoln in Steamboat Springs over the weekend.
Co-owner Ashley Edinburg tells Steamboat Radio News, “It looks like the smoke damage is more significant than the fire damage.”
She says they are unclear when Embellishments will re-open. “We hate to disappoint our loyal customers wanting to get a jump on their Christmas shopping, but we most likely won’t be open for Black Friday weekend.”
Edinburg says the fire marshal will be doing a report.
“We are very grateful for the Steamboat Springs Fire Department who were on site quickly and saved us from what could have been a devastating loss.”
Edinburg and Melinda Miller bought the business in 2010.
Records show the building at 903 Lincoln Ave. was built in 1910. It was the Milner Bank and Trust Building.
An Architectural Inventory Form from the Colorado Cultural Resource Survey says, “The Milner Bank and Trust Company failed in the late 1910s, and by the 1920s, the building had been converted into an automobile garage. It eventually became a Buick and Chevrolet dealership which existed here until the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, the building was then retrofitted for new retail uses. A 50′ by 60′ addition to the rear of the original building probably dates to the late 1960s or early 1970s.”
More on the Historical Background of the building, from the report:
The original portion of this building was constructed in the autumn of 1910, for the Milner Bank and Trust Company. Founded in 1889, Milner Bank and Trust was Steamboat Springs’ first financial institution. In its early twentieth century advertising, the company proudly proclaimed that it was: “The Oldest Bank in Northwestern Colorado – est. 1889.” Francis E. (F.E.) Milner was the bank’s founder and president. The new building is depicted on the July 1911 Sanborn map, which is shown with a corner entry facing the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and 9th Street. The bank was located in the southeast half of the building, while (according to the 1911 and 1920 Sanborn maps) the northwest half was a “billiards” hall. Oral tradition in Steamboat Springs has it that Charlie Boyles operated a saloon in this building during its early years. Boyles may have been the proprietor of the Billiards hall which may also have been a saloon. The Milner Bank and Trust Company failed in the late 1910s, and by the 1920s, this building’s primary use was as an automobile garage, operated by George Allen. In time, this business evolved into an automobile dealership, which by the 1950s, had become Bash Buick and Chevrolet. By 1965, Bash Buick and Chevrolet had given way to McKinlay Motors, a Chevy dealership, at this location.
Steamboat Springs telephone directories indicate that by 1970, McKinlay Motors was no longer in business, and that this property was not then in use. The building was then remodeled for new retail uses in the early 1970s. In 1975, Inside Edge Sports and the Mountain Heritage Steakhouse were located in the newly-refurbished building. Retail tenants here in the early 1980s included Inside Edge Sports, CJ’s Cafe and Restaurant, and Sore Saddle Cyclery. W. Anderson and Friends Restaurant operated in the portion previously occupied by CJ’s, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later in the 1990s, the Colorado Country Store, a subsidiary of the Vermont Country Store, was located in the building’s northwest half, previously occupied by the restaurants. Current (2007) retail tenants include: the Steamboat Art Company (in the front part of the southeast half at 903 Lincoln Avenue; the Steamboat Shoe Market (in the front part of the northwest half at 907 Lincoln Avenue), and the Yampa Valley Sound Company (in the rear portion with access from 9th Street.).
From City of Steamboat Springs — Completed Inventories on Lincoln Avenue in Steamboat Springs, CO.
Pictures from the scene Sunday morning. Wood was placed over the broken window Sunday afternoon for better security.
