LOVELAND -- A downtown Loveland building that has housed a visual arts business for decades soon will switch to a new art form.
Norm Toman, owner of Art of the Rockies at 440 N. Lincoln Ave., said if the sale of his building goes through in early October, a dance studio will move in and his art gallery and frame shop will move out.

Linda McSwain, co-owner of Loveland Dance Academy and Greeley's Conservatory of Dance Studio, said she plans to move the Dance Academy from its 126 W. Fourth St. location into the Lincoln Avenue building.
Loveland Dance Academy, which offers a broad range of dance classes and performance opportunities for people of all ages, has leased its current space on Fourth Street since 1998.
She said the school will move from about 3,500 square feet to more than 5,800, probably in January. "We're pretty pressed for the number of students we have," McSwain said.
"I think that says a lot about the people of Loveland and what they think about the performing arts," she said.  The larger location will allow the school to have bigger dance studios and to add a fourth studio. The main access for students will be on the east side of the building, off the city parking lot, McSwain said.

Two other businesses in the Lincoln Avenue building will move out along with Art of the Rockies when the sale closes.
Bead Bling Bead Co., which has occupied a corner of the building for about a year and a half, will move to a shop at West 15th Street and Van Buren Avenue, according to owner Donna Keirns.
She said she hopes business will pick up at the new location, 1966 W. 15th St., Suite 5B. "People don't like to come downtown," she said, adding that she had more customers when her shop was at an out-of-the way location on West Eighth Street and Van Buren.
At the new, larger shop, Keirns said she hopes to add a line of clothing.

Billie Colson's Independence Gallery, also in the 440 N. Lincoln building, will move with Toman's Art of the Rockies to a smaller space at 233 E. Fourth St.
The new location, formerly the studio and gallery of the late sculptor Blair Muhlestein, is considerably smaller than Art of the Rockies' longtime home.

"We've had a real luxury of space," Toman said. The new location will have 2,400 square feet, while his current building has 5,850.  With the move, he will get rid of some of the framing equipment he doesn't use anymore and have a sale on artwork that hasn't been selling.

While Independence Gallery sells original artwork of mostly local artists, Art of the Rockies features reproductions of nationally known artists, such as the late Thomas Kinkade.
He said Colson's gallery will carry some of Muhlestein's sculptures.
Toman and his wife, Pat, bought their business 17 years ago from Art Erickson, who had operated the Art Erickson Center at that location since 1986. He said they are looking forward to cutting back on the hours they work after getting established on Fourth Street.
Craig Young can be reached at 635-3634 or cyoung@reporter-herald.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigYoungRH.