A movie house that opened to great fanfare in May of 1957 in downtown Greeley, Colorado, featuring the hit musical Oklahoma!, is being listed for sale for $1.7 million.
The opening of the Colorado Theater in what was then a city of around 23,000 people made the front page of the Greeley Daily Tribune, with opening night featuring city officials, klieg lights, and a local high school pep band.
It was noted that the new theater could seat nearly 900 people, with a screen capable of showing the latest CinemaScope offerings.
The building served as a movie house for nearly two decades until it was purchased by the University of Northern Colorado Foundation, hosting any number of concert and opera events. UNC moved the operations of the Foundation Hall to another location in 2019.
Located in downtown Greeley at 1514 8th Avenue, the building, measuring nearly 15,600 square feet, sits on a just-over 1-acre site on a commercial block that has seen a good deal of redevelopment in recent years.
A modern four-story structure housing around 220 apartments was built some 3 years ago at 8th Avenue and 16th Street, with other apartment projects for an area just to the north of the University of Northern Colorado being discussed.
The building, advertised as a candidate for multi-family and retail redevelopment, is being listed with the Waypoint Real Estate firm of Fort Collins.
By Garry Boulard
