Hidden Columns, a Five-Foot Lift and a 2028 Date: The Winter Inside Aspen's Armory Fence

On the night Armory Hall opened in January 1892, Company C of the Colorado National Guard held a ball there. The Aspen Daily Chronicle called it "a glittering success." By December of that year the building had held 20 balls and socials in one month. That history comes from the Aspen Daily News, which also notes that the building cost $10,000 to construct on two lots at the southeast corner of Hopkins Avenue and Galena Street.

In mid-October, crews preparing for interior demolition at 130 S. Galena St. found a set of wooden columns from that first structure hidden behind drywall. Aspen wants the hall in use again by fall 2028. When the columns got in the way of that date, the council chose to keep the date.

The Columns Came Out So the Steel Could Go In

The city normally requires historic structural elements to be preserved. Aspen Historic Preservation Officer Gillian White said so to the City Council, and the columns fall into that category. The Armory's interior is not designated historic, but its structure is, and the timbers showed construction methods from their period, including steel cut nails and notched joints.

The trouble was timing. Capital Asset Director Rob Schober told the council that keeping the columns in place and redrawing the approved interior around them could delay the project by at least a year and add roughly seven figures to its cost. He also said the discovery came in the same week the city was trying to order its steel. "The biggest obstacle in keeping these [columns] in place is the steel package," Schober said, according to the Aspen Daily News. The price of the Armory's steel had already gone up $106,880 since March, about 5% over the original estimate.

The council voted to remove the columns and reuse the wood in the final design. The city's historic preservation staff supported that decision. Staff suggested wrapping the new steel beams in the salvaged timber. Kim Raymond, vice chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, explained the commission's position to the council, as the Aspen Daily News reported:

"The HPC has zero interest in trying to make this [project] last longer or cost more, but our job is to try to save the history of this building. But if we could take these historic beams and wrap some of that steel and leave them exposed as a nod to the history, that would be a really exemplary way to proceed with this building."

Councilman Bill Guth agreed to save the wood but objected to the wrapping idea. He told the council that wrapped "box beams" would separate at the seams over time and "start to feel really inauthentic and cheesy," and that they would take attention away from the authentic material the project is already keeping. So the wood comes out now, and the decision about how it returns is still open. Schober also said crews could find more hidden historic material as construction continues into next year, and city staff are drafting an approach for anything else that turns up.

A Building That Has Always Been Remade

It helps to know how much of the Armory is already a patchwork. The building was originally two stories, with armory uses on the ground floor and lodge rooms and banquets on the floor above. A third floor added later cut the old windows in half, and the Aspen Daily News describes the building today as "a Frankenstein building." The city's own timeline shows how often it has been reworked:

1. 1891 to 1892. The Aspen Armory Company buys the lots for $5,000, builds the hall and opens it with the Company C ball.
2. 1893 to 1895. The "Hard Times Ball" begins after the silver crash and runs through at least 1895. The hall also hosts indoor baseball, basketball and public school classes.
3. 1905. The Aspen City Council condemns the building because maintenance costs are too high.
4. 1906. The Aspen Fraternal Hall Association buys it for $6,000 and makes the first major repairs.
5. 1944 to the 1950s. City offices move upstairs, and the building eventually becomes Aspen City Hall for 64 years.
6. 2015. Voters choose to turn it back into a community center.
7. 2021. Most city departments move to the new City Hall at 427 Rio Grande Place.

The council settled on a food hall after a 2023 open house and community surveys. The design then went through several rounds of disagreement between the council and the Historic Preservation Commission over which parts of the building count as historic. In 2024, the council set aside a full redevelopment of the Old Powerhouse so it could fund the Armory first. This round of work has a fixed construction contract, a steel order and a 28-month clock.

The Schedule Being Protected

The city handed the site to Shaw Construction on July 14 and expects a 28-month build. According to The Aspen Times, substantial completion is set for late September 2028 and final completion for November 2028. The all-in budget is $60,663,606.90. A year of delay would have pushed every one of those dates back. The steel cost increase is a reminder that prices tend to keep rising while a project waits.

The next major step will be visible from the sidewalk. In January, the council approved a change order allowing Shaw Construction to bring in Wolfe House and Building Movers, a national building-moving company. Wolfe will raise the Armory 5 feet above sidewalk level while the foundation is replaced. The new foundation will also make the basement ceilings slightly taller. As of the Oct. 21 report, crews were getting the building ready to lift.

What Changed Around the Block

The fence will stay up for most of the construction period. The city is planning artwork on the construction screening and a pedestrian walkway around the site along Hopkins Avenue and Galena Street. For anyone parking or walking downtown this winter, these are the current rules:

• Parking along the site. Hopkins Avenue between Hunter and Galena streets and Galena Street between Main Street and Hopkins Avenue have changed from angle to parallel parking, according to the city's Nov. 2 notice.
• Overnight parking in the commercial core. Parking is banned from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. through April 1. The window is an hour shorter than last year's 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. Officers issue warnings through Nov. 15 and $100 tickets after that. Cars left overnight during a snow event can be towed, with fees up to $260.
• Construction hours. Work runs 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, according to the city's August construction notice. No work happens during the Aspen Saturday Market. Parking, walkways and access routes may change as the project moves along.

The market has already adjusted. Before it opened in June, market manager Kathy Strickland told The Aspen Times, "We have been planning and anticipating the loss of Connor Park." She said two vendors had already been moved from the park to the street over the past two years. Guth had suggested moving the Hopkins Avenue stalls one block so construction could continue on Saturdays. Development Manager Jen Phelan said that move could be considered for next summer. If that happens, it would be another trade-off made to save time.

What the Hall Holds in 2028

The finished plan makes clear why the city is protecting its schedule. The building will have three floors of food, open seating, games and meeting space.

• Main floor. A lunch counter near the Hopkins Avenue entrance, several dining and seating areas, and three kitchens. The lunch counter will serve limited alcohol and will not have a prominent bar. The council wanted the main floor to work as a gathering place for all ages.
• Mezzanine. A community lounge with seating, pool tables and a shuffleboard table. Todd Kennedy, a principal at Basalt-based CCY Architects, described it to the council as a "teen hangout zone."
• Upper level. A central bar with several seating areas.
• Basement. A community flex space for meetings, banquets and markets, with a new connection to Conner Memorial Park that brings in more natural light.
• Across the building. The city's operator solicitation lists five food kitchens, a grab-and-go retail space and a 1,357-square-foot community meeting room. A separate addition will house a visitor center. The city says the Aspen Chamber Resort Association will manage it.

The park will change too. The large spruce at its center will get a tree deck with seating, and some of the lawn will likely be hardscaped to handle more foot traffic. The granite Ten Commandments slab, given to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1968, will be removed from the park because it does not fit the redesign. Phelan said the city is looking for a new location for it.

Apart from the visitor center, a single master operator will run the hall. That operator will manage beverage service, sublease the kitchens and retail stall to food vendors, and coordinate events. The city is reviewing 15 proposals and plans to send five or six finalists to the council.

Mayor Rachel Richards described the purpose in practical terms. She told the Aspen Daily News she wants "some place where our basketball teams can come after a big game with the parents and still get some affordable food." The Armory last filled that role in the 1890s, when it hosted indoor basketball games. The city posts project updates on its Armory Hall project page.

Downtown Aspen's historic buildings change slowly, and each change affects the blocks around them. If you own near Galena and Hopkins, or are thinking about the Central Core while the Armory is being rebuilt, Saslove and Warwick can talk through what this construction period means for your corner of downtown. Contact Us.