As quickly as a historic mural was discovered under a brick
facade on East Colfax Avenue, it was defaced by taggers, a discouraging
blow for developers who are working to remake the
stretch from Elm to Fairfax streets on Colfax.
They had not had a chance to
protect the mural, a hand-painted
advertisement for American
Beauty Macaroni, estimated to
be more than 50 years old, before
it was ruined. In vibrant
colors, the hand-painted ad
said, “100 percent pure food.”
Now, developers don’t think
they can remove the new paint
without lifting the old colors on
the east wall of the Retro Rose
Antiques building.
Merchants in the area are
heartbroken, as the discovery
of the 10-by-14-foot mural was
seen as a symbol of their efforts
to return East Colfax Avenue to
its golden age.
“I’m sick about it; I can’t even
look at it,” said Erick Roorda,
owner of Mod Livin at 5327 E.
Colfax Ave. “We are all about
getting back to our roots on Colfax,
we’ve seen a lot of those
murals in LoDo and it was the
first one we’ve found up here.”
The paint is old and delicate,
making it nearly impossible to
save, said Mark Berzins, managing
partner of Little Pub Company,
which is developing the
block.
The project is part of a renewed
focus on the thoroughfare
to make the area pedestrianand
shopper-friendly with new
restaurants, bars and businesses.
The north side of the street is in
Park Hill and the south in the
Hale neighborhood.
“By cleaning up our block and
making it bright, nice and safe,
we can help start some momentum
in transforming our side of
Colfax,” Berzins said.
The painting was found when
workers were demolishing the
old Calvin Natt Mortuary. As
they pulled bricks from the
west side of the building, the
mural emerged on the side of
the building next door.
“It’s tragic that it got
wrecked,” Berzins said. “It
would be great if someone saw
this tag and knew who did it,
and he had to come and fix it.”
