Fifteen years ago, John Burr bought a long-vacant church at 31st and Walnut streets in the upper Larimer neighborhood.

"Freight trains used to literally run down Walnut Street in the middle of the night," Burr said.

As a drummer, he'd become aware of the lack of rehearsal space for bands. So, with a loan co-signed by his mother, Burr built 10 rehearsal rooms around the church, dubbed SoundStructure when it opened in 1993. The units have been booked solid ever since.

"Back then the land and the buildings were dirt-cheap," Burr said. "I picked it up for next to nothing."

The mid-'90s opening of Coors Field 10 blocks to the south changed everything. The formerly vacant lots near The Walnut Room now sprout pricey lofts. Even before that, "you wouldn't have known it, but there were a lot of people living down here, mainly artists and musicians," Burr said.

A few years ago he decided to build another 15 rehearsal spaces on the vacant lot next door. But this time, Burr connected them to a club where the bands and local acts could perform.

"The next thing you know I'm a bar owner, the kitchen and everything," said Burr, who lives in a custom-built suite at the top of the refurbished church. And the club he opened, The Walnut Room, turns two years old today with a show by Soul Asylum.

By building the club from the ground up, rather than refurbishing nearby buildings, Burr was able to control exactly how things would work.

The addition of the Walnut Room suddenly made 31st and Walnut into a musical hub, with 25 bands renting the spaces and frequenting the club. Local musicians such as Angie Stevens, Melissa Ivey, Hemi Cuda and more rehearse in the rooms and sometimes play on the main stage.

The Walnut Room has a main bar/restaurant area, in part building its business with the buzz over its pizza. The Live Room in the rear holds as many as 300 people. Ron Gordon, who ran the sound at the Little Bear in Evergreen for years, designed the sound system. Mark Sundermeier, former booker for the Soiled Dove, brings in the national acts.

"It has built its reputation on the fact that the room sounds just so impeccable," Sundermeier said. "These larger acts come to us wanting to play there because of the sound quality.

"It took me six years to get the Soiled Dove to a profit point. It happened with the Walnut Room in its second year of business, which is just unheard of."

Upcoming shows

• Gin Blossoms: 8 p.m. Saturday, $35

• Love 45: 9 p.m. March 31, $6

• Veruca Salt with Charlotte Martin: 8 p.m. April 3, $13

• George Inai: CD release party, 8 p.m. April 5, $5