Loveland (1877, 4,982 feet), founded by the Colorado Central Railroad and named for its president, William A. H. Loveland, has the grid plan of a railroad town. It became a large agricultural center after the Great Western Sugar Company built a plant (1901). Since 1985, Loveland has become a national center for sculpture. The Art Castings of Colorado Foundry (1972), 511 South 8th Street, attracted sculptors such as Dan Ostermiller, George Lundeen, and George Walbye, who helped Loveland's Sculpture in Benson Park (at West 29th and Beech streets) program become a notable exhibition. Peter Toth's towering tree sculptures add further interest to the “Sweetheart City.” More than fifty local houses, including that of town founder David Barnes, are featured on a Chamber of Commerce tour brochure. Most are early twentieth-century brick homes with relatively sedate Classical Revival designs. Hewlett-Packard's 575,000-squarefoot Loveland plant (1974) is the leading local employer. Although Loveland's population soared from 6,773 in 1950 to 37,352 in 1990, it has maintained a small-town scale. The Municipal Building (1987, Midyette Seieroe and Associates), southeast corner of 2nd Street and Washington Avenue, set an example for architectural recycling by using the Washington School (1905), a two-story Mission Revival building, as a core with tasteful additions in a park setting.
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