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Wonderland -
806 8TH ST
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Ed Von Gohren & Co. Hardware/Goodman-Neill Clo./Kiva Theater
Style -
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements/Commercial Style
Built Year -
1886
State ID -
5WL4126
Description -
Two-story rectangular brick commercial building with flat roof and cornice with bands of molded brick and brick "dentils" and narrow stone coping. Walls composed of buff brick; reinforcing stars above windows of second story. Very wide 1/1-light double-hung sash windows flanking regular width double-hung sash window on upper story. Windows have rock-faced sandstone lintels and sills. Belt course of molded brick between stories. Storefront remodeled and has off-center entrance with slightly inset double paneled and glazed doors surmounted by large transom. Clerestory area covered with wood and has decorative band at bottom. Large plate glass display windows (two toward east and narrower one toward west) have paneled kick plates and paneled piers at ends of building. Tiled entrance area.
Historical Background -
A photograph in the files of the City of Greeley Museum shows the building in its original appearance, which featured a central inset entrance and a narrow entrance to the stairs to the second floor. The upper story had narrow double-hung sash windows and there was a corbelled cornice. The building is identified in the photograph as Ed Von Gohren & Co. Hardware and Ed Dunham's Jewelry, with Ed Van Gohren, John Irons, and E.L. Dunham standing in front of the building. In January 1887, the Greeley Tribune reported that Von Gohren & Scott had sold their hardware business to Greeley residents R.L. Hallock and Robert Hall. The new operators of the business were described as follows: "Mr. Hallock has had considerable experience in the business having been with A. Igo several years, and before that with Mr. Koch. Mr. Hall is a contractor and builder." The D.R. McArthur Hardware store is listed here in city directories of 1892-1906. The hardware store subsequently moved to the building next door to the west.
During 1908-28 the Goodman-Neill Clothing Co. occupied the building. S.M. Goodman established a clothing company in the First National Bank block that became Goodman & Wasley and later Goodman-Neill, which advertised the "largest stock in northern Colorado" in 1909. The Kiva Theater operated here from the 1930s through the 1950s. In 1945 a newspaper report noted that the newly decorated Kiva Theater was to reopen. The theater then featured an auditorium with wall murals featuring Mexican themes painted by Walter Jancke, manager of the theater. The theater offered second run motion pictures. A 1953 article reported that the Kiva, then part of the Westland theater chain, was to close permanently. The theater equipment was removed from the building, with the seats given to local churches. The building, owned by Harry Hibbs, a Greeley businessman, was sold to Cyril Litchmann of Los Angeles, California. The Park Theater had closed four months earlier, reflecting a decline in small theaters due to rising costs. By 1960 Zales Jewelry Company was housed here.
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