Estes Motel

Estes Motel. . , In 1944 Clifford and Christine Estes, natives of Nebraska who later moved to Colorado, purchased land along West Colfax Avenue just east of Kipling Street. The Estes family built a sizable house in the middle of the lot, likely around 1946-48. , As traffic increased along Colfax, the couple soon decided to modify their property by developing it into the Estes Motel. They did so by building two separate structures consisting of motel rooms around 1948-49. , The building you see here was located at the northeast end of the property, complete with its own carports, with another building at the southeast corner, while the house remained home to the family who managed the motel. By 1952 the area was peaking to the height of its tourism activity and there were 37 motels along West Colfax Avenue. The Estes Motel, answering to phone number BE 3-5297, was primarily an overnight motel which advertised rates of $4-8 for each of its six units. Many of its clients were vacationers traveling west to see the sights in the Rockies. Since US Highway 40 (Colfax Avenue) was the main east-west route through this part of the country, all of the motels alongside it enjoyed a near continual stream of customers. , The Estes Motel remained in the family throughout the 1950s. After Clifford's death on August 7, 1959, Christine sold the motel to Joseph Berenbaum of Denver. Despite being in different hands the place continued to be known as the Estes Motel, sporting one of the many neon signs that helped to define Colfax. During the late 1960s and into the 1970s traffic was siphoned away from Colfax by the newly expanded Highway 6 and the creation of Interstate 70. Businesses struggled as traffic diminished and the Estes became more of a weekly rental motel while many others around it ceased operating. Berenbaum continued to run the Estes until it finally closed sometime between 1977 and 1982. , In 2010 the Estes Motel was donated to the City of Lakewood by local businessman Michael Bettmann. The building was moved to the Lakewood Heritage Center where it underwent a complete restoration.