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Old Colorado City restaurant buys OCCA ‘welcome center,’ gears for expansion

The current Front Range Barbeque operates from the house (with covered patio) in foreground. The restaurant now also owns the second house, which it bought two years ago; and the third house, which was the Old Colorado City Associates' Welcome Center.
Westside Pioneer photo
Nov. 7, 2018
       Front Range Barbeque now owns all three late 19th-century houses just west of the former Goodwill building in the 2300 block of Colorado Avenue, which will allow the restaurant to expand.
       One of the houses, the westernmost, was converted 18 years ago to start FRBBQ at 2330 W. Colorado Ave. For most of those years, the business was a renter. According to Front Range owner Brian Fortinberry, he kept trying to buy the building, and a deal was finally struck in 2017.
       That made two houses for FRBBQ, as he'd already been able to buy the house next door (2326 W. Colorado) in 2014.
       The third house (2324 W. Colorado) is just east of the second. It was being used until recently by the Old Colorado City Associates (OCCA) business group, which
At the 2008 Fiddles, Vittles & Vino at Rock Ledge Ranch, Brian Fortinberry (right) of Front Range Barbeque posed with Jake Topakas of Jake & Telly's Greek Cuisine. Both Old Colorado City restaurants had donated food for the event, an annual Rock Ledge fundraiser.
Westside Pioneer file photo
had bought it in 2014 for its “welcome center” for visitors.
       But the current OCCA board decided that the building wasn't working out (see Westside Pioneer article at this link) and sold it in August to FRBBQ.
       Now with all three buildings, Fortinberry is working with Colorado Springs Planning to figure out how he can use them for an expansion.
       Plans are still in the concept stage, with the possibility of construction in 2019, Fortinberry said in a recent interview. Among his goals are connecting the buildings, installing a kitchen that's three times bigger, creating more outside dining space and preserving the historic look of the two added houses while possibly a touch or two from the deep South, where he's from.
       One thing he's sure of: “It will be a real cool spot for Westsiders.”

Westside Pioneer article
(Business: Changes)

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