Kirk C. Watkins, Ward. One thing that is consistent is change. In Colorado, one can witness change as winter changes to spring, the flowers begin to bloom, bears emerge from hibernation, and leaves populate the aspen trees lining the Rocky Mountains. One such change is the transfer of ownership of the Millsite Inn at 44365 Highway 72 (known locally as The Peak to Peak Highway).
Since 1985, the mutual owners, husband and wife Scott and Carol Byers, and Scott’s brother Kirk Byers, had operated the Millsite Inn as a restaurant and bar. They served hot comfort food, pizza and drinks to local residents and hungry travelers that found themselves at the curve in the road just east of the turnoff to Brainard Lake. Sitting at the highest point of the Peak to Peak Highway, the Millsite Inn had operated continuously as a restaurant, bar, music venue, and a gathering place for the eclectic mix of mountain folk and curious tourists since its opening. Its existence is legendary. But as is the case with most things, time caught up with the Millsite, and after the passing of Scott Byers, the owners decided that it was time to pass the torch. It was the last weekend of September 2018 that they closed their doors.
It sat empty for a little over a year, and folks talked about what might become of the iconic Millsite. Rumors were bantered back and forth around fireside chats, with possible futures being discussed. Now, there is movement at the Millsite, as the Moyer family is currently renovating the building and planning to reopen the site.
Husband Josh Moyer, wife Jesse Moyer, son Dominick Moyer (5) and son Bodean Moyer (1) moved into the Allenspark area in July of 2013, from South Dakota. “Sturgis, South Dakota, via Sioux Falls, South Dakota, via Appleton, Minnesota. All over the place, all over the Midwest area,” Josh said when asked about his family’s journey to become the next proprietors of the Millsite. When asked why they had made the move Josh was blunt in his response, “Beauty, money, there’s no money where we come from.”
Jesse added to his statement saying, “My family is from here, I grew up on and off in this area and the downtown area. I’m familiar with this area and always loved it here.” When asked what she meant by “downtown” she said, “Greeley, Platteville, when I was in Elementary school. We lived here three or four times when I was growing up because my grandpa lived here.” Her grandpa was a well-known figure in the Allenspark area. “His name is Ray Leckbee,” said Jesse, “He was a firefighter, a big member in the church.”
As for what made them choose to take the helm of the Millsite, they responded, “Our family likes to go on drives/adventures along our mountain side and during these drives we would always drive by the Millsite and ended up falling in love with the building,” said Jesse, “I helped run a small family café for the last 3 years and absolutely fell in love with the industry, and we ran a small fencing company for the last 5 years. When we saw that the Millsite was up for sale, we knew that this was our chance to be able to give back and do something for our community.”
The Moyer’s have begun the process of opening the Millsite once again for business. They say they plan to open the restaurant after they get their licensing and other paperwork cleared through Boulder County.
When asked what their plans for the restaurant were, they had no aim to gentrify the Millsite, as they had originally fallen in love with its rustic charm. “We are planning on reopening the Millsite Inn as a small family run restaurant open for lunch and dinner with a similar menu. We will have appetizers, pizzas, burgers, beer, wine, along with nightly and weekend specials. Later in the evening we will close the restaurant and open as a bar with some limited mixed drinks, a pool table and jukebox. We are planning on having live music back by next summer.”
Although they had planned on a certain time schedule for their opening, they have had to alter their plans in order to adapt to the current pandemic crisis. However, they are resilient, and don’t plan on giving up.
“With the current situation, it has greatly impacted us by slowing down the process of being able to open fully, and be able to do the upgrades that we were wanting to do, but it also gave us the chance to be able to provide a service for our community and to try to help make a hard situation a little easier for them. We are currently offering a small essential store, along with healthy sack lunches, snacks and cold drinks.”
As the new generation of Millsite owners begins their time at the top of the Peak to Peak, it remains to be seen how they will emerge from the challenges in front of them, but their spirits are high and they seem to be willing and able to endure throughout the obstacles placed before them.
(Originally published in the June 11, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
