WHEAT RIDGE — After two years of wrangling, developers wasted no time demolishing the 94-year-old Olinger Mansion after a petition drive was ruled invalid.
The white-brick Italianate mansion was a pile of bricks and lumber within a half-hour after the demolition permit was issued Friday.
Tuesday, dump trucks hauled the rubble from the property, at West 29th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.
“We grieve the loss of this magnificent building, but it had the cancer of politics. And sometimes that is lethal,” said former Councilwoman Claudia Worth, who is vice president of the Wheat Ridge Historical Society.
“We know of no other mansion in the city that is now, or ever was, as important to the history of Wheat Ridge,” Worth said. “The council won. We will have another nondescript strip mall across from our beautiful City Hall and park.”
Commercial buildings, including the popular 3 Sons Italian Restaurant, now in Denver, are planned.
On April 14, a referendum petition was filed with the city challenging the City Council’s March 24 rezoning decision that allowed the mansion to be torn down.
Faced with protests and restraining orders, the City Council hired a neutral third party to review the case.
The hearing officer ruled late last week there were problems with the petitions and the number of valid signatures fell short of the required 1,157.
Cost to the city for the proceedings may reach $55,000.
In a letter to citizens, Mayor Jerry DiTullio said he was “chagrined” the referendum process was “selfishly used to save a house that the petitioners do not own, stop redevelopment of a commercial corridor, stop investment in our community, and usurp the personal property rights of one specific property owner.”
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
