In an economic recession, historical preservation of an old

SLOWLY but surely — and in spite of considerable economic hindrance — Shoenberg Farm is coming back to life.

The once sprawling farm on the border of Arvada and Westminster, founded and operated for nearly a century by Jews, was gradually reduced to a handful of mostly ramshackle buildings surrounded by 21st century commercial development.

The just-completed preservation of the farm’s barn, however, and soon-to-begin preservation of one of its silos, provides striking evidence that the core of the old farm is likely to survive.

The dairy farm began operations in 1911 under the ownership of Jewish businessman Louis Shoenberg — originally intended to provide dairy and other products for Denver’s National Jewish Hospital — and was subsequently owned and operated by three generations of the Tepper family until the farm was shut down in 2002.

Shoenberg Dairy and the Dolly Madison chain of retail outlets, which drew their raw materials from the farm, were leading Colorado businesses for decades.

The efforts of Vicky Bunsen, community development programs coordinator for the city of Westminster and an expert in historic preservation, to save what was left of the farm was the subject of an award-winning article in the Intermountain Jewish News L’Chaim Magazine in the fall of 2008.

Bunsen is still championing the cause of the farm’s preservation in the conviction that it provides powerful witness not only to early Front Range agriculture but to the role of Colorado’s pioneer Jewish community.

Her enthusiasm for that cause hasn’t waned, although she was recently informed that she’ll soon be laid off from her position with the city. She plans to move to Manitou Springs with her husband and to work as a consultant in grant applications and historic preservation. Her hope is to continue working on the Shoenberg project in a consultant’s capacity.

“If they hire somebody else,” she says with a smile, “I think it would be unfortunate because I know more about it than anybody else.”

TWO years ago, the roof of the Shoenberg barn was deteriorating, its western wall literally pulling away from the main structure, its brick mortar rapidly crumbling, its doors sagging and cracked.

Now — although it retains much of its historical appearance — it looks like it might have been built this year.

A gleaming new steel roof covers three inches of foam insulation that will make the building comfortable for human habitation. The old windows are fully restored and several new windows have been installed to let in more sunlight.

Flooding problems have been corrected with a new drainage system, part of the loft floor was removed to open up the northern end of the barn, the rest of the loft floor has been carefully repaired and refinished.

Reinforcement cables have brought the walls back into plumb with each other, new mortar has strengthened the interior and exterior walls, helical piers have been anchored into the bedrock 15 feet below to overcome the destabilizing effects of the area’s shifting bentonite clay soil.

The old sagging doors have been replaced with new ones that are neat and straight.

All in all, this barn has surely never been in such good shape, yet Bunsen emphasizes the importance of historical authenticity, especially in its external appearance.

Workers used as much original window glass as possible in the restored windows. Care was taken that new mortar closely matched the color of the original. The old lighting system was carefully taken down during the roofing job, and then put back in place. Even burn marks in the rafters — evidence of a 1920s or 1930s fire that destroyed the barn’s third story — were left in place.

“From the outside,” Bunsen says, “the goal is to keep it as close as we can tell to the historic exterior.”

Bunsen used professional photographs of the barn, taken during its National Jewish Hospital period in the early 20s, and a handful of photos from later decades, to make sure that historical appearances were maintained.

The photos will come in handy in later farm restoration projects.

“We’ve had to kind of cobble information together from different sources,” Bunsen says. “We have good historic photography of the house but for much of the rest of it, it’s hit or miss.”

Now, all fixed up and shiny, the 4,000-square foot barn is awaiting its next occupant.

Bunsen is working with representatives of a recording studio who are interested in leasing not only the barn but perhaps an additional structure on the farm. Other possibilities include such concepts as art galleries or a farmer’s market.

BUNSEN’S efforts have already saved the farm from what would have been its most likely fate — demolition.

Because the Colorado State Historical Fund paid some 70% of the nearly $400,000 it took to preserve the barn (the city of Westminster financed the remainder), it is now a designated landmark.

The barn is part of the farm’s one acre core, which also includes the original farmhouse, carriage house, milk house, power plant and two silos, all of which, thanks to Bunsen’s efforts, are now owned by Westminster.

Long-range goals are for all of the buildings to be restored and put to use in ways that both benefit the community and pay homage to the site’s original use.

Due to city budget restraints and a still sputtering economy — as well as the allocation of a significant portion of the State Historical Fund to repair the aging State Capitol — Bunsen estimates that it may take as many as seven or eight years before the entire project is complete.

The tight economy has put a serious crimp in virtually all Colorado preservation projects, she says.

“And the people all over the state who have been working on these projects — the laborers and contractors and material men — are out of work. So the economic hit has been harsh.”

Bunsen is not deterred, however. She is convinced that the farm’s core will eventually become an attractive and popular showpiece for Westminster, and cautiously optimistic that the area surrounding it will eventually be saved as well.

Surrounding the core are a number of additional structures — including an early Quonset hut and the old dairy processing plant — that are still owned by the Tepper family. It’s less clear what will happen to that property, but Bunsen remains hopeful that it will eventually be purchased, restored or renovated, and put to use in a way that harmonizes with the core.

“I have gotten a couple of fairly serious inquiries about them,” Bunsen says of the Tepper buildings, “and I’ll just put people in touch with the Teppers and help them in whatever way I can.”

Meanwhile, progress remains steady, if gradual, in the core area.

Bunsen says that a State Historical Fund grant has already been secured to restore the concrete silo, which dates to the 1940s. The 50-foot structure will be “shotcreted,” or reinforced with high-pressure concrete. On its interior, its cables will be tightened and its foundation filled with gravel for stability. The restoration will cost some $93,000.

“Once it’s done, there is no reason why it shouldn’t last forever, as we know forever,” Bunsen says.

“We’re trying to raise money for the milk house to come next. I’m also trying to raise money to do construction documents on the wooden silo.”

She sees the picturesque wooden silo as one of the farm’s best features.

“That silo is actually becoming really rare, because wooden silos like that either blow down or burn down. The reason that one is still standing and in relatively good shape is because it’s protected by the barn and concrete silo.”

WHATEVER business or non-profit ends up occupying the barn will have to keep the farm’s historical importance in mind, Bunsen says, adding that the same standard will be applied to all of the farm’s buildings, once restored.

“The city’s role is to make sure that everything gets preserved and the public has some access. I told the recording studio guy, for example, if he’s going to be here he’s going to have to have an open house a few times a year to let the public in. And that would be the same with all these, to make sure that there were opportunities for tours.”

The configuration that Bunsen envisions will feature interpretive signs and landscaped pathways, upon which visitors and students can learn about what it was like to run a farm in the early 20th century, and how many early Jewish immigrants to Colorado started out as farmers.

“There’s so much to talk about here. People will be able to spend a couple of hours walking around. The educational piece of it is huge.”

Although the Shoenberg restoration project has gotten off to a slower start than originally expected — very much like many new construction projects these days — Bunsen has nothing but optimism that the whole thing will fall into place.

“It will happen, there’s no question about it,” she says.

Seeing the newly restored barn, the first major step of the project, reach completion is “very gratifying,” Bunsen says, her voice echoing in the barn’s for-now empty interior.

“Part of it is that there were so many doubters, so many people who thought that it was ridiculous or was never going to happen,” she says.

“We just knocked off the biggest piece of it. Let’s see where it can go from here. The historical landmark board, the city council, the neighbors are just wildly excited about it.”

Copyright © 2010 by the Intermountain Jewish News