GOLDEN, Colo. — A hardware business in the heart of Golden is in its second act thanks to the owners of a local theater.
Family-owned Meyer Hardware was the heartbeat of downtown Golden for more than 70 years. Three generations of the family sold the screws, fasteners and hinges that held Golden's homes together since 1945.
In 2021, the family decided it was time to hang up the aprons for good and sell. The community assumed the buyer of the white-hot piece of real estate on 11th Street near Clear Creek would be a developer who would scrape Meyer off the map and put condos where their families used to shop. But there was to be a second act for this old building.
The owners of another beloved Golden institution, Miners Alley Playhouse Theater, put together a coalition of civic groups, lenders and advisors to find a way to buy the hardware store. Through donations, grants and loans, that coalition raised $5 million, which was their offer.
"They ended up accepting ours for the same reason we made it, which was we want our community hub, which was Meyer Hardware... to become another community hub for the performing arts," said artistic director Len Matheo
The brand-new, 30,000-square-foot Miners Alley Performing Arts Center is now open. It includes a 160-seat theater, an impressive lobby and bar and even a workshop downstairs where they can build their own sets.
"What we're sitting in here is complete state-of-the-art. Every piece of equipment in here is brand new — brand new LED lighting, brand new sound systems. And if you see the production of "Misery," you really get to see the technologies we put in this theater," said Matheo.
There are pieces of Meyer Hardware history throughout the theater. The old nail tin was turned into a merch display. They plan to find a place to hang the large sign that used to hang above the hardware store entrance. The theater even has a signature cocktail at the lobby bar named after the store's founder, JB Meyer.
January kicked off the first season of Miners Alley Performing Arts Center with a production of the play "Misery," based on the novel by Stephen King.
It seems Shakespeare was right. All the world is a stage, even the old hardware store in Golden.
