999 S. Colorado Boulevard
Quick Quack Car Wash is proposed for the site of the House of Worship United Pentecostal Church at Colorado Boulevard and Tennessee Avenue. A preliminary plan shows a 3,588-square-foot express wash, 23 vacuum stalls and three employee parking spaces.
The church was built in 1953 for First Evangelical Free Church, which moved here from downtown. Denver architect Walter Simon designed the Colonial Revival building. That congregation left around 1990, and Lovingway Pentecostal Church bought the property in 1991. Lovingway, later known as House of Worship, remains the owner of record.
The property is currently listed for sale at $4.5 million and we assume a prospective buyer submitted the car wash proposal. Denver issued a certificate of demolition eligibility in March, but that is not a demolition permit. Quick Quack’s plan is marked “not for construction,” and no construction timeline is shown.
We’re surprised a housing concept hasn’t surfaced for this site, given the planned Colorado Blvd BRT line and the apartments proposed for the former Belcaro Center a couple of blocks north. Some neighbors fought the larger housing proposal there. How will they feel about cars cycling through a wash on this corner every day?
We understand the appeal to an operator. Colorado is a car-focused state, and year-round recreation gives people plenty of reasons to wash their vehicles. Even so, there is a better use for a lot this large with frontage on three streets. God don’t like ugly, and this proposal is an ugly one.