Jamestown residents and business owners have launched a fundraising campaign to buy and preserve a building that has been the geographic and social heart of the town for more than a century.
The Jamestown Mercantile, 108 Main St., is changing hands, according to the group behind savethemerc.org. The property is not actively listed, but the campaign is hoping to raise $1.5 million “to purchase and permanently steward” the historic building.
“The current owner is selling the building,” the campaign website reads. “He has given us until this fall to prove we can secure the resources to save this precious mountain gem.”
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to purchase the building and secure the Merc's future,” the statement continues. “Without fear of losing this space to outside investors, the Merc can belong to this community permanently and officially.”
Boulder County property records show the Mercantile last changed hands in 2019, for $735,000. The owner is Loupee Burton Jr., known around town as Burt. He could not be reached for comment.
Built in the 1890s, the building served as the town’s post office and general store in the early 1900s. Later in the century, it found life as a cafe, restaurant and — once a liquor license was approved in the late 1990s — bar, known to locals simply as The Merc. The business is not up for sale and will remain independently owned.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Landmarks in 1989.
Jamestown Mercantile has long been a gathering spot for the town of about 250 residents. It has been a shelter and emergency response center during fires and floods, and has long been popular with cyclists schlepping up Lefthand Canyon.
Under current owner Rainbow Shultz, who took over operations in 2010, The Merc has become known for its brunches, dinners and live music.
Shultz and other Jamestowners have formed a nonprofit — The Jamestown Home for Wayward Artists, Pirates, and the Somewhat Feral — to buy The Mercantile, which actually comprises two buildings and eight apartments. A governing board would manage the property.
The plan, Shultz wrote on an online forum for locals, is “to purchase the building … and manage the building and its rental units — including renting to the cafe. … In this way, the residents of Jamestown can participate in the nonprofit, own and manage the building, and make sure that the future owners of the cafe have Jamestown’s best interest for all future generations to come.”
As of Friday, April 24, Save the Merc had raised $7,000 of its $1.5 million goal. Posts on various online platforms hinted at fundraising events and promotions in coming months.
“Get involved,” Shutlz implored townsfolk on the forum. “[It] will be a fun fundraising summer!”
