By Gavin Orth
Dark Horse’s interior, famous for its zany decor. (Anna Tolette/Coloradan Magazine)
Dark Horse Bar & Grill, a staple of nightlife in the Boulder community, will be leaving its original location to allow for Williams Village 2, a new University of Colorado dormitory expansion. Many view the university’s takeover of the lot Dark Horse stands on as a sign of the complications that will arise from the Will Vill 2 construction. (finish sentence)
The owner of Dark Horse, Dave Tobin, had been aware of potential eviction from its location for over fifteen years. The bar sits across from the original Williams Village, a cluster of dormitories and utilities for CU students. In 2023 the Williams family, who own the adjacent plot of land, proposed expanding Williams Village onto the 10-acre parcel by building a new student center, Williams Village II. Tobin put out a joint statement with the family the following year, which clarified their “hope to create a new home for the Dark Horse as part of Will Vill II.” The redeveloped plot will contain a 100,000-square-foot commercial zone meant to allow temporarily displaced businesses to return, including the Dark Horse.
So, Dark Horse will not be shutting its doors permanently — simply opening them in a different building. However, many fear that the quintessential essence of the bar is at stake. The current location is a living tapestry depicting half a century of Boulder’s nightlife; articles about students from the 1980s hang from walls, while wagon wheels and chairs hang from ceilings. Every corner of the bar is packed with relics of Dark Horse’s history. To move all of it seems simply unfeasible.
Will Balliette, a Senior at CU and frequent Dark Horse patron, sees it as impossible to preserve. “Every wall is drawn on by thousands of people, every seat is carved into, every table has etchings,” he said. “It’s like a cave painting.” He first lived in Williams Village and then moved to an apartment complex across from Dark Horse. The location was originally a point of convenience for him, but his connection with the bar grew over time. Balliette often comes to the bar to watch sports, eat, or simply socialize with friends. Now, he worries that aside from the relocation, expanded student housing could suffocate the local staple.
Dark Horse’s relocation is an example of the problems the Williams Village II project could bring to Boulder. The area projected for construction not only contains the bar, but a Sprouts grocery store and multiple restaurants frequented by both students and local residents. The Williams family may have promised a new commercial zone, but plans for the development are projected to last through at least two years of construction – two years spent depriving South Boulder of a key grocery store and many affordable restaurants. When these establishments reopen, they’ll have to deal with increased demand from an even larger student population.
Dark Horse is a place of meaning for generations of Boulder residents who have literally made their marks on the bar, covering it top to bottom with ephemera collected over its fifty years of service. When the development of Williams Village II begins, these marks will be stripped away along with the building itself, though hopefully to be rebuilt at the bar’s new home.