Tivoli Brewery Company (building) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Tivoli Brewery Company
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Tivoli Brewery Company building on the Auraria Campus
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 Location in Colorado
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1320--1348 10th St., Denver, Colorado |
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| Area | 0.7 acres (0.28 ha) |
| Built | 1882 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 73000469 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1973 |
The Tivoli Brewery building, now known as the Tivoli Student Union, is a very old and important building in Denver, Colorado. It was first built to make beer. A famous architect named Frederick C. Eberley designed it.
Today, this building is a busy student center for three colleges on the Auraria Campus: Metropolitan State University of Denver, Community College of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver. In 2015, the Tivoli Brewing Company started making beer again inside the building, in its original brewing area.
Contents
History of the Tivoli Brewery
The Tivoli Brewery building is a historic landmark in the Auraria Neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. It was once home to the Tivoli Brewing Company. The company was named after the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Early Beginnings
The Tivoli Brewery building was built in 1864. A German immigrant named Moritz Sigi built it. He also dug Colorado's first artesian well, which is a well where water flows up naturally. Moritz Sigi was a well-known person in Denver. He was also a city councilman. He was famous for brewing a special type of beer called "Buck Beer."
Sadly, Moritz Sigi died in a horse carriage accident in 1874. After his death, Max Melsheimer bought the brewery. He changed its name to Milwaukee Brewery. Melsheimer tried to make the business much bigger. He bought large copper kettles for brewing. But his plan did not work, and he lost the brewery.
John Good and Growth
John Good, who was involved in banking and brewing, then took over the company. He renamed it Tivoli Brewing Co. At that time, Tivoli Brewery and Zang's Brewery were the biggest breweries in the area.
During a time called Prohibition, making and selling alcohol was not allowed. Zang's Brewery never fully recovered after this period. But Tivoli became a very popular beer in Denver and the western United States.
Tivoli Brewery continued to grow. John Good died in 1918. His family and his business partner, William Burghardt, kept the brewery going. By the 1950s, it was one of the largest breweries in the country. It made up to 150,000 barrels of beer each year. This beer was sold all over the western United States. In the early 1960s, Tivoli grew even more with its Hi-En-Brau brand.
Challenges and Closure
In 1965, Loraine Good, the last family member to own the brewery, passed away. Carl and Joseph Occhiatio bought the Tivoli-Union Brewery from her estate. Soon after, they faced many problems.
In 1965, the Platte River flooded. This flood caused a lot of damage to the brewery. One year later, a labor strike made things even worse for the business. In April 1969, the Tivoli Brewery closed its doors. Until it closed, Tivoli was the second oldest brewery in the country that had been open continuously. Only Yuengling brewery in Pennsylvania had been open longer.
New Life for the Building
After being empty for many years, the building was turned into a shopping center in the mid-1980s. An architectural firm called HOK did the work. For some years, it had a movie theater with 12 screens. This theater later hosted the annual Denver Film Festival from 2001 to 2011.
The Tivoli Student Union Today
Today, the building is known as the Tivoli Student Union. It is a student center for the Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado Denver, and the Community College of Denver. Students use it for meeting rooms and offices for student groups.
Many of the building's original features are still there. You can still see the copper brewing kettles. There is also a barrel lift that you can see from two different levels.
The Tivoli Brewing Co. was brought back to life in 2012. It now helps teach students about the brewing and beer industry. These programs are part of the schools on the Auraria campus.
