By Shannon Lukens.
Renovation is progressing on The Veterans Center in downtown Steamboat Springs. Work started in July for the $3 million project of the building at 924 Lincoln Ave., which was built in 1898.
Kent Frederickson is on The Veterans Center Board. He gave us a tour Friday. He pointed out some beams that are original to the building that will be reused. They all have notches in them.
“There’s really no reason for them to have notches, in this building for the structure, so we really suspect that they were reused when they built this building from a house and probably floor joists 120 years ago. And these are quarry rocks, quarried here right in Steamboat and used in the foundation and a wall in the original building.”
A few other things have been discovered in the old building.
An old horseshoe was found in the front wall, which is thought to have been put there when the building started to be built in 1898, for good luck. Horseshoe for good luck: How to use it at home?
Lambert & Butler is a former English tobacco manufacturing company, established in 1834 in Central London. It was a private business until 1901 when it merged with another company. Frederickson took off the lid and it still smells like tobacco.
Old Thompson is a brand of blended American whiskey. The brand dates back to 1904.
Steel beams went in last week to reinforce the flooring and support posts for structural integrity. When they took everything out of the building, they discovered the original foundation was extended out into the building more than they thought. The foundation was made of quarry stone from Steamboat Springs.
Axis Steel in Craig is bringing in more steel beams next week for the building structure. Here are pictures of the ceiling.
Local masons will be in Sept. 18 to do reinforcement work and clean the walls on both sides. Everything has been removed to see the original walls.
There is brick on the side of the Lorenz Building. Cinder Block is in the back, which was a more recent addition.
The Quarry Building is on the other side which is now Rumor Designs, and formerly Smokehouse Restaurant. This was a door to the warehouse that was bricked in from when the building was Gambles Department store.
When the building is finished, the back part will show the original walls. The buildings there were first the J.W. Hugus & Company store. It was a full-service mercantile with warehouse. An Architectural Inventory Form said, “J.W. Hugus reportedly ‘sold everything from needles to threshing machines, groceries, dry goods, stock supplies – in fact everything needed for existence by the early day ranchers and homesteaders.'”
You can see the J.W. Hugus and Co. sign on the wall inside Steamboat Shoe Market. It’s still there. This picture was taken today by staff at the shoe store.
The actual front of the Veterans Center building used to be the Bank of Steamboat circa 1899-1900. The walls were covered with plaster. They will again be covered in the front, like it was when it was a bank when the building was built in 1898.
The original flooring when it was a bank can be seen. It will be reused. The building was also a bowling alley at one point, and that flooring can also be seen. The building was converted to be used as a V. F. W. meeting hall after the end of World War II.
Some glass in the front is still there and it will be reused as much as possible.
Pour Boys Concrete is pouring the concrete on the foundation this week. Native Excavating is doing more excavation work on September 18. Central Electric is also doing electrical work. The building is Spectrum Construction Corporation out of Denver. The renovation is expected to take nine to ten months.
Money is still being raised for the final additions to the project. The Veterans Center would still appreciate any donations.
Donation Link through ColoradoGives.org
Past pictures of the building.
Historical background: This property was originally developed in the late 1890s as part of Steamboat Springs’ J.W. Hugus & Company store. John William Hugus, the company’s founder, had been born at Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania on November 24, 1836. In 1868, Hugus was the post trader at Fort Steele, Wyoming, and from there, he launched the highly successful J.W. Hugus & Company.
In 1880, Hugus formed a partnership with John C. Davis, who was then a clerk at the Fort Steele store. They opened their first store, at Rawlins, Wyoming, under the name J.W. Hugus and Company, followed by an Indian trading post at Meeker, Colorado. Hugus and Davis subsequently launched other stores at Dixon, Wyoming, and at Hayden, DeBeque, and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. Later, there would be stores at Wolcott, Parshall, and elsewhere.
A full-service mercantile, J.W. Hugus reportedly “sold everything from needles to threshing machines, groceries, dry goods, stock supplies – in fact everything needed for existence by the early day ranchers and homesteaders.”
By 1907, J.W. Hugus & Company was reportedly grossing nearly one million dollars in annual sales.
In the interim, J.W. Hugus had retired to California where he passed away on October 11, 1901. The part of the J.W. Hugus building which now comprises the V.F. W. building, became the Bank of Steamboat Springs circa 1899. Apparently controlled by J.W. Hugus and Company, this was Steamboat Springs’ second financial institution, following the Milner Bank and Trust Company which had been established in 1886.
The J.W. Hugus Company closed its doors in Steamboat Springs in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and the company’s building was then divided and converted to other retail uses. This, the northwest end of the former Hugus building, became the Schubring-Cruse Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4264, following the end of World War II. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (V.FW.) had been created by veterans of the Spanish-American War, at Columbus, Ohio in 1899. The organization received a Congressional charter in 1936, and its membership grew exponentially after World War II. The organization’s mission focuses on the rehabilitation of disabled veterans, the protection of national security through military strength, and promoting patriotism and community service. In 2000, the V.F.W. boasted nearly two million members nationwide. Today, the Schubring-Cruse Post is one of nearly 150 V.F.W posts located throughout Colorado.
From History Colorado; March 30, 2013 — Steamboat Springs Downtown Historic District in Routt County
Steamboat Springs Downtown Historic District Routt, Colorado Name of Property 21 924 Lincoln Avenue Historic: Schubring-Cruse VFW Post 4264*
Current: Schubring-Cruse VFW Post 4264
Construction: ca. 1899
Style: Modern Movements 5RT.252
Architect: Unknown Builder:
Unknown Photographs: 39, 41
This single-story building is built of red brick masonry and concrete block construction, with a red brick veneer on the asymmetrical façade. A stained natural brown wood-paneled door, with a small upper sash light, enters the southeast end of the façade from a three-step concrete stoop located within a recessed entryway. A band of four single-light casement windows, with white metal frames and painted white wood surrounds, penetrate the façade wall to the northwest of the entry. A small, narrow, horizontally-oriented fixed-pane window, with a brown brick rowlock sill, penetrates the northeast end of the façade wall. A narrow belt course made of a single course of brown brick stretchers visually separates the upper and lower portions of the façade. A low flat-roofed addition to the northwest end of the northeast (rear) side features a poured concrete foundation, painted white, stuccoed, concrete block walls, and a single entry door on the northeast side. *This property was initially developed in the late 1890s, with the construction of the J.W. Hugus Company store. When completed, the Hugus store comprised all of this property as well as the property adjacent to the southeast, where the Steamboat Smokehouse is now located. This northwestern portion (now the V.F.W. Hall) became the Bank of Steamboat Springs circa 1900. The J.W. Hugus store went out of business in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and the building was then divided and converted to other uses. The V.F.W. remains an active post with many members.”
Past Steamboat Radio News Coverage
- July 4, 2024 — Veterans Center breaks ground on renovation
- June 5, 2024 — VETERANS CENTER IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS JUST SHY OF $3M GOAL
- April 22, 2024 — THE VETERANS CENTER RECEIVES $500K DONATION FOR RENOVATION PROJECT
- March 9, 2024 — HAPPY 91ST BIRTHDAY TO VETERAN BUCK BUCKLAND
- Dec. 23, 2023 — ROUTT COUNTY VETERANS WELCOME ACTIVE MILITARY AT HOLIDAY HOMECOMING
- Dec. 5, 2024 — Historic Register Adds 924 Lincoln Avenue to Notable List
- Dec. 4, 2023 — VETERANS CENTER BUILDING IS ADDED TO STEAMBOAT SPRINGS REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
- Nov. 14, 2023 — THE VETERANS CENTER GETS $1M CHALLENGE MATCH GRANT
- Nov. 9, 2023 — ROUTT COUNTY VETERANS ARE HONORED FOR VETERANS DAY
- Sept. 14, 2023 — ROUTT COUNTY MILITARY VETERANS WILL BE HONORED WITH BANNERS ON LINCOLN AVENUE
- Sept. 12, 2023 — 9News Veterans work to restore historic building in Steamboat Springs
- Aug. 10, 2023 — LOCAL AMERICAN LEGION DONATES TO VETERANS CENTER
- July 12, 2023 — VFW IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS FUNDRAISING FOR REPAIRS TO DOWNTOWN BUILDING
- Oct. 16, 2022 — BANNERS OF MILITARY VETERANS LINE LINCOLN AVE.
- May 30, 2022 — MILITARY VETERANS GATHER IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS FOR MEMORIAL DAY