Last week, the Greenwood Village City Council was tasked with discussing a church taking over the Boot Barn property at 8500 E. Orchard Road.
But they mostly wanted to talk about the sign on the property for a former western wear retailer.
“Itap an eyesore. It does not fit in with the city,” said Councilman Paul Wiesner.
“Have you no mercy or nostalgia, Mr. Wiesner?” asked Councilwoman Libby Hilton Barnacle, who wanted to see it stay.
The sign sits on the southeast side of the Interstate 25-Orchard Road interchange, and dates to 1977. It says Sheplers, a western wear chain that for decades operated in the property’s massive building.
In 2015, the company was bought by Boot Barn and all Sheplers stores were named Boot Barn. In 2019, Denver-based Sidford Capital bought the property for $8.3 million.
But the Greenwood Village Boot Barn won’t be for much longer. Grace Chapel, a large church to the south, came before the city council Aug. 17 with plans to take over the 85,000-square-foot building.
“I remember, as a child, driving on the highway, looking at the Sheplers sign … thinking, ‘Whatap it like in that building? Thatap where the cowboys go,’” Senior Pastor Josh Weidmann told the council.
The nondenominational church plans to turn the building into a worship center with 1,000 seats. It’ll replace the roof, create a new entry and install more glass in the front. There will also be more landscaping.
Grace Chapel was founded in 1979 and, since 1995, has operated in a former car dealership along Interstate 25 across from Park Meadows Mall.
“We understand what itap like to be on a highway. We also understand what it means to rehabilitate an old building,” Weidmann said.
The council had some questions about parking and security. But mostly about the sign.
“I know people that find it very objectionable because itap very large,” Mayor George Lantz said.
City staff said the sign doesn’t conform to current sign code, but for now is grandfathered in because itap considered to refer to Boot Barn.
When the church comes in, the sign would no longer refer to the tenant, city staff said. As a result, after six months it could be considered abandoned and eventually removed.
“I’ve lived here almost my entire life. I love the sign,” said Councilman Jay Schneiderman.
Staff told the council members they might as well vote as to whether Grace Chapel should be allowed to keep the sign.
Weidmann, the pastor, has been working on the deal to take over this building for 13 months. He said Grace Chapel would like to keep the sign and fix it up.
“Itap the No. 1 question we had over the last 13 months: Will the sign stay?” he said.
Weidmann said he thinks the sign will help people navigate to the church, but itap not a must-have. He doesn’t care about signs, he said. He cares about people.
“I think the sign is important to the people,” he said.
He didn’t convince everyone.
“I think they should sell it. And once the sign is gone, no one is going to care six months from now,” Wiesner said.
“I think itap served its purpose,” Councilman Bob Doyle said.
But they found themselves in the minority as council voted 4-3 to approve the church’s plans and let it keep the sign.
Change won’t be immediate. Boot Barn’s lease on the space runs through June of next year.
“It’ll take about a year to 18 months to be able to make this all that we’ve promised it would be,” Weidmann said.
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