A Little Bit of History

Told by Bob Girvin with Help from His Friends


1850/1900 - Gold seekers felt Colorado had promise. Division offices were setup to issue patents, which are deeds, so people could go and file a claim to start digging. Dredges were built allowing the carving of river beds. Gold stayed at the bottom of the barges. Placer claims were issued, which allowed the owner the right to dredge the surface of the ground up to 75 feet.

1859 - Because of a little mistake of inadvertently leaving the town off the maps until 1936, Breckenridge became known as “Colorado’s Kingdom.” In the summer of 1936, Colorado Governor Big Ed Johnson and Breckenridge locals gathered on the Summit County Courthouse lawn, where a U.S. flag was raised, officially welcoming the Town of Breckenridge into the nation.

Early 1900s - A patent was issued for 23 acres in the SW corner of Breckenridge called the Lake Placer Claim.

1900/1950 - The Lake Placer Claim exchanged many hands until Frank Brown, mayor of Breckenridge and County Treasurer, took title and sold it to a family in Dallas. Then it was renamed Texas Gulch.

Mid 1950s - Bob Girvin, originally from Philadelphia, PA, came for a month to explore the West and paid $3.50 per day to ski in Aspen.

1961 - Breckenridge ski area, with no public accommodations, opened with over 80,000 day tickets sold that winter. Only day skiers came, coming over Loveland pass. Keystone and Copper were not built. No condos existed except Hermit Grove and Falcon both built in the late 1960s. A-framed buildings and cabins were being erected. People brought their own food.

1963 - The Dillon Reservoir was completed bringing more visitors to town. Late 1960s A beaver built a pond on the hill behind Building 4 (B4). The pond eventually saturated the hill causing a mudslide. The ground settled all the way down to the DoubleTree Hotel.

1971 - Bob Girvin visited Breckenridge in August taking a rest from making aircraft fighter landing gears in his shop in Chicago.

1972 - Four months later, Bob Girvin moved to Breckenridge and with Jim Cavin bought the Lake Placer Claim. Because the beaver had made the hill run down the mountain, the land was called Beaver Run.

1973 - I-70 and the Eisenhower Tunnel opened, reducing drive time to Denver to 1.5 hours, and the first Beaver Run sign is made in Bob Girvin’s garage.

Mid 1970s - Beaver Run (D) chair lift was installed. It only went 3/4s of the way up Peak Nine.

1979 - Bob Girvin began presales of the project, and all 41 units in Building 1 (B1) were under contract. Closings were scheduled for 1980.

1980 - Paul Albrechtsen bought the rights to the development and continued with the original sales concept. The first unit, which Bob Girvin bought, closed in early February. A total of 86 units in B2 and most of the units in B3 were under contract. Kings Ridge Condominiums and the commercial building with small conference spaces were built. Spencers was used as 3 meeting rooms. The CopperTop Kitchen was the only cooking area for the 1800 sq ft CopperTop Restaurant and the 20’x 40’ upper loft lounge. The 4th floor now used as administration offices was a wide open space and used as a meeting room.

Early 1980s - Bob Girvin had a real estate office in the now current lobby/clothing store. Included in the real estate office was a model of a B4 Colorado Suite. The administration offices were opposite the current front desk. The front lobby square footage was half what it is now with no fireplace. Flipside, which became Tiffany’s, then Base 9, was the first Beaver Run nightclub.

1981/1982 - Closings for B2 and B3 were completed. The original plans for B4 of 2 bedroom lock-off units were changed to smaller units.

1983/1984 - B4 was redesigned and completed.

1984 - Wide World of Sports covered a Freestyle event in Breckenridge placing Beaver Run on the map. The first Board of Beaver Run formed from owners according to the covenants and Village Resorts was hired as the management company.

1985 - Closings started on B4.

1987 - Joe Shackleton was hired as GM late in the year.

1990 - The Beaver Run Super Chair, originally called the Mercury chairlift, was constructed with the ski area and BR sharing the cost. Alan Shepard, the first American in space and who walked on the moon, was a BR homeowner. The chair was named after the Mercury space program. The dedication ceremony included Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and Gordon Cooper.

1992 - The two HOA’s, one for B123 and another for B4, merged.

1993 - The HOA bought the Kings Ridge Condominiums.

1994 - The Refurbishment Department was created.

1997 - Premier Resorts (through a British Holding company) bought out Village Resorts and became the new property management company.

2000 - Built the Breckenridge Ballroom.

2002 - Spencers and the Lobby were completely remodeled.

2007 - Coppertop, the Deli, and Base Nine were expanded and the Imperial Ballroom was built.

2009 - Bridge Hospitality was hired as the management company. Bob Barto was named GM. The rental program took over all the F&B operations. BRICA was formed.

2010 - BRICA bought the commercial building from Paul Albrechtson.

2012 - A new elevator was built for B2 & B3.

2013 - Covered the main entrance.

2014 - The ADA Elevator to B4 was completed.