Rivers Church in Castle Rock is planning to purchase a section of a strip mall near the Phillip & Jerry Miller Library in Castle Rock. The buildings are home to longstanding small businesses that include Castle Rock Dance Academy and Stumpy’s Pizza.
A neighborhood meeting Monday night about the proposed changes to some of those buildings took place at Castle Rock Town Hall.
CBS
While the church is under contract to purchase the entire block, most of the businesses in the strip mall would be able to stay open with the church as their new landlord. But gym CrossFit Loop and Stumpy’s Pizza would have to close to make way for the church sanctuary.
A longtime Stumpy’s manager says the business has been in Castle Rock for 26 years and at the Wilcox location for 16 years. She says they want to stay there.
“Every church dreams of having a permanent home,” said Drew Land, the lead pastor of Rivers Church.
Land says his congregation of nearly 200 people needs a home.
“Rivers began with an actual dream that I had about starting a new ministry, and so I just really felt the Lord was leading me to start a new ministry,” Land said.
The non-denominational church presently holds its services at Castle Rock Middle School and has offices at 140 S Wilcox Street. When they learned the building and its neighbors were for sale, Land had an idea.
“Could it be that we could actually try and purchase one of these things?” Land said. “We always thought it would be amazing to be downtown. So … that was one of the things that got us excited about this place was because it was downtown.”
Rivers is under contract to buy 136, 138 and 140 S Wilcox from two different owners and has fundraised 70% of the $4.5 million needed.
“Step by step, we’ve just been kind of trusting God, and it’s been this incredible miracle of God putting together just the means and the possibility of us being able to find a permanent home,” Land said.
But the sale doesn’t mean the end of all the businesses with leases there. The church would become the new landlord for the businesses in 140 S Wilcox, including Castle Rock Dance Academy.
“We want the tenants to stay. There’s a dance studio; there’s a chiropractor; there’s [Propane Shack] in this side of the building with us,” Land said.
But CrossFit Loop and Stumpy’s Pizza would become the church’s sanctuary.
“It’s really perfectly suited, in many ways, for a larger group to be able to meet in there,” Land said.
The owner of 136 and 138 S Wilcox, where Stumpy’s and CrossFit Loop are, told CBS Colorado he’s selling in order to fund an affordable housing development in the Vail Valley. He says he is seeking additional investors for that project. Those interested can learn more here.
The building owner says CrossFit Loop chose not to renew their lease, and he’s offered to help Stumpy’s find another location if it wants assistance.
But the longtime manager of Stumpy’s told CBS Colorado the business cannot afford to move to a new location and would have to close for good if the deal goes through. “Stumpy’s has been part of the Castle Rock community for 26 years, and has proudly served families at 138 S Wilcox for 16 of those years,” Stump’s manager Gretchen Norton said in a statement. “I have personally worked in this restaurant for 10 years, and it has become much more than just a job to me. It truly feels like a second home and family.”
“Over the years, we have watched kids grow up here,” Norton continued. “We have celebrated birthdays, team wins, graduations, countless family dinners and much more. Families from Castle Rock Dance Academy depend on us, several days a week, to feed their families. But also to provide a place to play games and parents to sit and relax while their children attend dance classes. Many of our staff had their very first job within these walls. Despite being around for decades, Stumpy’s has always kept that small, family feel, and that is something our community deeply values. Our sincere hope is to remain open at this location. Moving to another location is not possible. Our location has 35-40 parking spaces. All the businesses in this building pay sales tax to the city. This is absolutely not the correct location for such a massive church. It will hurt other businesses with extreme traffic and parking issues. What I have seen online, and from talking to residents of castle rock, they do not want this church here. We have called this location home for 16 years, and our community means everything to us.The response from our guests has been incredibly humbling. With the deep sense of connection people feel to this place, 70 members of our community are planning to attend the city council meeting to show their support. That kind of support speaks to what this restaurant represents beyond just a business.We truly believe that locally rooted, family run establishments are part of what gives Castle Rock its heart, and we are committed to doing everything we can to continue being a part of it.”
The owner of Stumpy’s Pizza and the owner of CrossFit Loop did not respond to CBS Colorado’s request for comment.
“We’re working with those tenants to help them find a suitable kind of place for them to move to, or make the transition, and whatever they want to decide to,” Land said.
The changes to the exterior of the 136 and 138 building need to go before the Castle Rock Design Review Board for a public hearing and vote. No date has been scheduled yet.
The church is poised to take ownership April 13, but they would not immediately move in. Land says they plan to continue the Stumpy’s and CrossFit Loop leases on a month-to-month basis until they are ready to move in. Renovations to the facade need to take place, and the church still needs to fundraise for those. The existing church offices in 140 . Wilcox will likely be used as a youth space. Land expects the church won’t be up and running at the site until 2027.
“We have to just move at the pace that God kind of provides the funds for us to be able to renovate, and also move at the pace of the current tenants and when they can make their transition,” Land said. “So we’re working with them be good neighbors, to be good landlords, to really make this happen together. We don’t have any hard deadlines to make all that work.”
