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FORT COLLINS - Ask someone about Houska Automotive, and the answer is just as likely to involve bone marrow donation or Project Self Sufficiency as carburetors or transmissions.
The plaques on the wall in the shop's waiting area include a Community Service Award from the Disabled American Veterans, the Zumwalt Award for Community Service, a Larimer County Environmental Award and a citation as the Best of Fort Collins for automotive work. It appears as if Houska Automotive is an umbrella company for good deeds.
"My father started the business in 1952 at this location, then outside the city limits, with two bays," said shop owner Dennis Houska. "Ile was a B-17 mechanic, a real technician. And so the business was built on knowing what technicians needed and wanted to work well."
In 1974, the younger Houska took over the business as it continued to grow. By that time, the shop included eight bays and employed eight technicians. Today at the same location at Riverside Avenue and Myrtle Street, Houska Automotive employs 22 people, including 12 technicians, and houses 22 bays, with plans to expand to 24.
An early aerial picture of Houska Automotive shows the building and a big field just to the south of it. The field is long gone, and the city incorporated the land where the shop sits years ago. In fact, there was a time when it looked as if city zoning restrictions would put the shop completely out of compliance with the neighborhood.
"But the city worked with us on changing the restrictions," Houska said. "There are a lot of small automotive businesses in this neighborhood, and so the city worked it so that automotive [usage] was in compliance with city codes."
City codes aside, today, Houska has no more space to grow. So Houska plans to open satellite locations and add ever more sophisticated equipment.
"We have negotiated with the city to open two new bays," said Bill Lange, front desk manager for the shop. "Dennis has been approached to open shops in the south of town and in Windsor....