Saving Places Conference
The last half of last week I spent at the Savings Places Conference in Denver. This is an annual conference put on by Colorado Preservation Inc. regarding historic preservation issues. It is one of the largest conferences of its kind, and attracts people from all across the country. Having been to this conference for two years running now, and having attended many other conferences over the years, I can say that this conference is very well organized and is an excellent conference overall. It runs on schedule, all the speakers are engaging and good. I have been at other conferences where speakers will literally bore you to sleep, or the conference runs way behind schedule, or both. The only irony to this one, is that it has grown so much that this year it was held in the brand new Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver. In the past it was held in the historic El Jebel facility, a gorgeous facility. It has simply outgrown that place. Not that I am complaining, the Hyatt is a great place to hold a conference.
The theme for this years conference was about sustainability and how historic preservation fits into that. After all, there is no greener building than one that is already built. I attended several excellent presentations on how to retrofit old buildings with green products, insulation possibilities, and I learned a lot about how to repair brick and stone work. I also attended one interesting presentation on historic bridges. Part of the presentation was on the program that the State of Nebraska is doing to identify old historic bridges, and ways to save/ reuse them. Another portion was on the City of Fruita, and how they were able to save the old CO 340 bridge across the Colorado River, get it stabilized, and get it ready for use as a pedestrian and bike bridge. This is unique, in that it is one of the last Trestle bridges around. It is also a little dear to my heart, as 20 years ago when I was preparing a routing plan for the Colorado River Trail, I identified this bridge as a good candidate for a pedestrian and bike bridge across the river.
Last but not least, was the presentation of this years endangered places. This is a list of places that get nominated to bring attention to properties and structures that in danger of being lost. Mostly this brings attention to those needing some help. Over the years, 80 places have been nominated, 17 have been totally saved, 3 lost (one of these was Currigan Hall in Denver, which was not historic anyway), with the rest somewhere in between. This years list included:
1) Grand Junction Train Depot (this one is special to me, as I spent a lot of time at this depot when I was a kid, and it is a gorgeous building)
2) Colorado State Capitol Dome (this one is ironic in that it is a state building, but no funds to repair it)
3) Brown Sheep Camp, Fort Carson (used to be one of the largest sheep ranches in the country. Army owns it now)
4) Elkhorn Lodge, Estes Park
5) Outbuildings of Lake City
6) Willowcroft Manor and Farm, Columbine Valley (outside of Littleton)
For more information, check out Colorado Preservation, Inc.
