1891, Harlan Thomas. 1914, addition. 1960, sanctuary, Hobart Wagener. 1401 Spruce Ave. (northeast corner of 14th St.)
Boulder's First Methodist congregation, established in 1859, built this Romanesque Revival church for $22,500. The walls, of rough ashlar sandstone from the Green Mountain Quarry, have matching extruded mortar joints and contrasting buff limestone trim. Intricate stone carving is best seen in the decorative buttresses at the street corner entrances of the three-story tower. A north wing was added in 1914, but the most interesting expansion came in 1960, when Hobart Wagener designed a massive new sanctuary on the east. Six repeating gables faced in screens of precast concrete and glass block echo the pitch of the original roof. New stone panels match the old walls and spring in low arches at street level to light the basement.