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Trolley Barn – Past, Present and Future

History/Background:

From 1907-1951, the Trolley Barn served as the depot for the Fort Collins Municipal Railway, a three-line street car system that converged at the intersection of Mountain and College avenues. One historic trolley, Car 21, was restored along with part of the Mountain Avenue line. Since 1984, the trolley has run on weekends and holidays during the summer from City Park to Old Town. The Trolley Barn has been designated a Historic Landmark. More recently, the barn and parking lot to the due south have been used by the City of Fort Collins Operation Services to store vehicles and equipment.

In recent years, the City has had several business inquiries regarding the Trolley Barn. The Fort Collins Food Co-operative expressed an interest in leasing the site as a Community Marketplace, a citizen’s group wanted to create a Fire Museum and, in 2015, the owners of a Denver-based entity interested in expanding in Fort Collins inquired about purchasing the Trolley Barn. In response to these proposals, the City is currently conducting public engagement and outreach through September 2015 to assess the community vision for the historic facility.

The Trolley Barn is located at 330 North Howes St.

Zoning (potential uses currently permitted on site):

  1. Residential
  2. Institutional/civic/public functions
      1. Community facilities
      2. Public and private schools (colleges, universities, vocational)
      3. Parks, recreation and other open lands
      4. Transit facilities
  3. Commercial Retail
      1. Restaurant
      2. Grocery stores
      3. Offices, financial services and clinics
      4. Artisan, photography galleries and studios
      5. Entertainment facilities and theaters
      6. Open-air farmers markets
      7. Exhibit halls
      8. Retail establishments
      9. Night clubs
      10. Conference/convention center
      11. Outdoor amphitheater
      12. Microbrewery/distillery/winery
      13. Food catering or small food product preparation
  4. Industrial
      1. Workshops and small custom industry
      2. Small-scale and medium-scale solar energy systems
  5. Accessory-miscellaneous
      1. Urban Agriculture

Get Involved

The City will gather feedback on how to best use the historic Trolley Barn in the future at a neighborhood meeting:

5-6 p.m. September 9
215 N. Mason, Community Room

Contact

Josh Birks
Director of the Economic Health Office
970-221-6324
jbirks@fcgov.com



Downtown Gallery