Play Hooky at the Historic Evans School, Now a Beer Garden and Café

Want to recapture the teenage thrill of cutting class and drinking beer? Now you can — right on campus, with nary a principal or truancy officer in sight. After sitting empty for fifty years, the historic Evans School in the Golden Triangle now welcomes kids of all ages to the Schoolyard Café and Schoolyard Beer Garden (although beer is still limited to those over twenty).

Built in 1904 and named for territorial governor John Evans, who lost that job after the Sand Creek Massacre but made a comeback as a city booster, the three-storied, red-bricked, copper-cupolaed Classical Revival structure served primarily as an elementary school; for decades, it was the only educational institution where the area’s deaf, blind and handicapped students received an education.
The Schoolyard Beer Garden and Schoolyard Café are the latest project of City Street Investors, the team behind the redevelopment of Denver's Union Station, Hangar 2 Lowry and Edgewater Beer Garden, among other places; it purchased the property in 2019. "It's hard to believe that in such a great location, that building could sit basically unused for half a century," says Joe Vostrejs, one of City Street's founders and principals. "We were very excited to get it."

The vision in 2019 called for converting the two upper floors into co-working and office space, but the pandemic forced a re-evaluation. Currently, the spiffed-up first floor contains the beer garden and the café. "We plan to lease out the balance of the first floor to as many retail- and wellness-related uses as we can," adds Vostrejs. "We held neighborhood focus groups and what we heard over and over again is that people wanted a center of gravity, a vibrant place where they can hang out with friends and family, enjoy a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine or a beer, and shop for local goods and services. We'd like to fully activate it as a truly public space."
And what a space it is: The former school remained remarkably unchanged during the decades it sat vacant, with both the penny-tile entry floor and the copper-accented double stairwell pristine. The former boiler room offers cozy, lower-level seating, accented by imposing double-height doors and hung with colorful banners designed by artist Lonnie Hanzon. Framed architectural renderings  — "we found those in a pile in the attic," says Vostrejs — and historic school photos round out the decor.

The café opens each morning with pastries, burritos and other breakfast goodies, along with freshly-brewed beans from Boulder's Conscious Coffee. Lunch sees a transition to deli sandwiches, salads and other quick-service offerings. At 4 p.m. daily, the space becomes a wine bar, with cocktails, charcuterie, artisanal butter boards and other nibbles. Locally made ice cream (including boozy) milkshakes will satisfy sweet tooths, while the spacious school grounds feature fire pits and comfy seating.

On the beer garden side of things, suds lovers will find more than a dozen local beers, with eighteen brews on tap, along with burgers, brats, fries, gyros, salads and hearty bowls.
Future plans for the space include a walk-up window at the café, as well as opening the school's updated, 4,000 square-foot auditorium as an event space for celebrations and meetings. But in the meantime, give these developers extra credit for bringing a landmark back to life.

Schoolyard Beer Garden & Schoolyard Café is now open at 1115 Acoma Street. The cafe's hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; for more information, go to schoolyardcafe.com. The beer garden is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; find more info at schoolyardbeergarden.com.