DOG OF THE WEEK

Coney Island Hot Dog Stand
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Coney Island
Re-opening on July 4, 2007 in Bailey, Colorado.
Building Information
Name	Coney Island
Location	Bailey, Colorado
Country	United States
Architect	Lloyd Williams
Completion Date	1966
Structural System	ironwork
Style	Programmatic novelty architecture

Coney Island Hot Dog Stand (commonly The Coney Island) in Bailey, Colorado is a hot dog stand shaped like a giant hot dog, with toppings. The building has been called "the best example of roadside architecture in the state".

The diner, which seats up to 10 people, is a concrete structure over an ironwork frame. The bun is 35 feet long, and the hot dog 42 feet; the entire building weighs 14 tons. By one account, "the line usually stretches out the door, and the tables are filled."

It was originally built in 1966 on Colfax Ave. in Denver, named The Boardwalk at Coney Island. The first owner, Marcus Shannon and intended to start a chain of eateries around the concept, and obtained a patent for the design, but they had gone under by 1969.

In 1970, under new ownership, the stand was moved to the Rocky Mountain town of Conifer, along U.S. 285 . Initially called Coney Island Dairy Land, it later dropped the last part of the name. Despite initial opposition, when it was put up for sale in 1999, a local campaign began to designate it a landmark and save it from destruction. The present owners purchased it for about $150,000. The popularity of the stand was such that its last day open, "the waiting line extended literally for miles". On March 18, 2006, to make way for a bank, the stand was moved again, 20 miles down U.S. Highway 285 to its present location in Bailey, close to Pike National Forest. Now, the giant hot dog is so popular that the bridge servicing the stand gets approximatley twice the traffic that it is rated for.