One of Main Street’s longest, most durable tenants is looking for new space, and the owner isn’t happy about it.

“I’ve never been evicted,” said Grandpa’s Pawn & Gun owner Rod Brandenburg as the snow just started to fly late Monday morning. “It’s cowardly. We don’t deserve to be treated this way.”

Brandenburg received an eviction notice in mid-October from the property owners, The Masonic Temple of Longmont, home of St. Vrain Lodge No. 23.

Since 1999, Brandenburg has operated the business at 312 Main St., which he said is just entering the busiest time of year for the him and his staff.

“We’ll have tens of thousands of customers from now into January.”

Gun sales make up a large part of the business. In fact, he said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told him that he is the No. 2 gun dealer in Colorado in terms of volume.

Now he needs to move by Nov. 30, and the clock is ticking.

“I never missed a rental payment,” Brandenburg explained. “And I’m the one who did most of the maintenance of this building.”

Another view

The Mason’s have a different story to tell.

“He has been unwilling to negotiate an upgrade to the building,” explained Darrel Noble, master of the lodge for the Masons. “Since last August (2014) we have been trying to create a new lease.”

Grandpa’s currently operates with a month-to-month lease. Noble said it’s been that way since 2001, when the last lease expired. He said Brandenburg has always refused to sign a new long-term lease.

“And staying on a dollar a square foot isn’t fair to us,” Noble said.

That figure includes the basement that Brandenburg uses to store goods. It’s a basement that also has a fair share of asbestos, which both men agree needs to be removed.

“We really need to comply with code,” Noble said. “He gave us no other choice.”

No support

Grandpa’s owner said he’s been maintaining the sidewalks and the store interior for years. He said the heat doesn’t work very well and that Monday it wasn’t even turned on by the property manager as the temperatures plummeted.

The carpets are badly torn and stained and need to be replaced, he said.

Both Brandenburg and the Masons agree that the interior needs work, but that’s where their agreement ends.

Brandenburg said the Masons want to charge him a higher rent. Noble said they are offering Grandpa’s a rent that remains $3 or $4 a foot below current market value.

Noble also said it’s time to split the utilities. The entire building at 312 Main — the lodge upstairs, Grandpa’s, and a vacant retail storefront just north of Grandpa’s — are lumped together as one. He said to bring it up to code, each unit needs separate utilities. At present Grandpa’s pays the Masons a prorated portion of those utilities.

Business as usual?

An eviction could a problem for many of Grandpa’s customers, who come in for short-term loans, to sell and purchase goods and to do their holiday shopping.

Jerry Sukala has been doing business with Grandpa’s for five years.

“I dabble in firearms and carpentry. I always get a better deal there,” he said. “They do a damn good business. It’s hard when you are settled. When you have to move a business you put it at risk.”

Brandenburg said he has yet to find a suitable location for the move. He wants to stay on Main Street but so far hasn’t found anything that he can afford. He also said the Masons’ timing is bad because Grandpa’s is entering its busiest time of the year and that moving would hurt the upcoming holiday season.

But Noble said that isn’t his problem.

“We offered him everything. We offered to do it (maintenance) when he was there,” he said. “Our goal is to improve that corner of Main Street.”

Vince Winkel: 303-684-5291, winkelv@times-call.com or twitter.com/vincewinkel.