Once upon a time, the Tivoli Student Union wasn’t a bustling hub for students. It was a brewery. The Tivoli Brewery Company building stands as a historic landmark. It’s located in Denver’s Auraria Neighborhood.
The Tivoli’s story began in 1864. German immigrant Moritz Sigi built the Colorado Brewery. Sigi even had the territory’s first artesian well. He brewed the famous “Buck Beer”. It was a hybrid lager-ale similar to a Bock. Tragedy struck when Sigi died in a carriage accident in 1874.
Max Melsheimer bought the brewery and renamed it Milwaukee Brewery. He tried expanding production. However, Melsheimer couldn’t manage the debt. John Good, a banker and brewer, took over. He renamed it Tivoli Brewing Co. after Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens in 1901.
The Tivoli Brewery and Zang’s Brewery were the biggest before Prohibition. Zang’s never recovered. Tivoli became Denver’s iconic beer. It was popular among western aristocrats. The brewery grew. After Good’s death in 1918, his descendants and partner William Burghardt continued the business.
By the 1950s, Tivoli produced 150,000 barrels annually. They sold it west of the Mississippi. The Hi-En-Brau brand helped Tivoli’s growth in the 1960s.
Loraine Good died in 1965. Carl and Joseph Occhiatio purchased the Tivoli-Union Brewery. Disaster struck when the Platte River flooded the brewery. A labor strike followed a year later. The Tivoli Brewery closed in April 1969. Before closing, it was the second oldest continuously operating brewery in the country. Only Yuengling in Pennsylvania was older.
The building became a shopping center in the mid-1980s. It even housed a movie theater and the Starz FilmCenter.
Today, the Tivoli Student Union serves the Auraria Campus. It supports students from three institutions. These are Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado Denver, and the Community College of Denver. Many historic features remain. You can still see the copper brewing kettles and a barrel lift.
In 2012, the Tivoli Brewing Co. was revived. It now supports brewing and beer industry education.
In 1973, the Tivoli earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
A student vote led to the purchase of the old Tivoli Brewery buildings. A two-year renovation created the Tivoli Student Union. The Tivoli Student Union was voted No. 9 on the 2013 Best College Reviews list of the top 25 student unions in the country.
So, as you explore the Tivoli Student Union, remember its rich history. From brewery to student hub, it has always been a Denver landmark.