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April 2009 Newsletter

This page contains feature articles from the online version of the April 2009 edition of the HRC! Journal. View the complete online newsletter here >.

 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - Patrick Delaney

 

Patrick Delaney, President HRC! Board of DirectorsGreetings from your friends at Historic Routt County! I know that it has been a while since we have sent out a newsletter. We are excited about all that has been going on, and I wanted to update you on many of the recent developments at HRC!

Last summer, our Board of Directors hired Towny Anderson as Executive Director.   With his extensive non-profit organization experience and passion for historic preservation, Towny has hit the ground running. He has done an incredible job behind the scenes organizing resources and implementing an ambitious new project. 
 
You may have heard that we have formed a new partnership with Colorado Mountain College. Towny and Bob Ogle, Historic Preservation Program Director from the Leadville Campus, have brought Bob’s award winning Historic Preservation Curriculum to the Alpine Campus in Steamboat Springs. This partnership between HRC! and CMC is unique among college level programs. CMC will provide the classroom space and compensate the teachers; HRC! will provide the resources for the laboratory work and experiential learning by working with interested owners of historic properties throughout Routt County. 
 
An introduction to historic preservation class is underway this spring at the college. In the next few weeks, HRC! expects to contract with CMC to manage and oversee the program. This partnership is extremely beneficial in helping HRC! fulfill our core mission in five principle program areas – Historic Designations & Historic Structures Assessments (Research & Documentation), Barns, Etc., Preservation Projects and Education & Advocacy.  CMC will be building a program that is supported by the community and offers a unique degree program for its students in a rapidly growing and evolving field. 
 
Speaking of laboratory experience, HRC! and CMC will conduct a class on the restoration of historic log structures this summer using the Diamond Window Cabin by Stagecoach Reservoir. This well known building will finally be restored. We have received funds from several different sources for restoring this building including the descendants of Ross and Mildred Ingram who lived in the cabin in the 1920s. We still need donations to make sure that this project is successful.
 
At the same time, Historic Routt County! continues to be a resource for property owners interested in researching their historic properties. While we honor the past, we are using tools of today. Look for updated resources on our website – www.historicrouttcounty.org . We will also be using the internet to communicate with our members about our work throughout the year. We encourage you to visit often and to send us an email with any suggestions you might have.
 
Last Fall, we agreed to expand our Board of Directors. Although our small Board is active and passionate about historic preservation, we know that we can certainly use the contributions of a few more people. If you, or anyone you know might be interested in serving, please contact Towny or any of the members of our Board.
 
Historic Preservation has never been more relevant than today. In these challenging economic times, there is no doubt that preserving an existing building is significantly less expensive and more energy efficient than building a new structure. At the same time, we honor the past. In fact, energy efficiency, economic stimulus and historic buildings are the subject of an OP-ED in the New York Times on April 6: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/opinion/06moe.html?_r=1 . 
 
We have great momentum as we move into the spring and summer months with an ambitious schedule of programs and projects. We are particularly grateful for your continued support in these difficult times. As a nonprofit organization we rely heavily on donations from our supporters. We utilize your money wisely, and we only work with willing property owners throughout Routt County. Thank you for everything you do to help HRC! fulfill its mission. 
 
"The preservation movement has one great curiosity. There is never retrospective controversy or regret. Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact …"
-- John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist 
 
Yours in Preservation,
Patrick Delaney,
President - HRC! Board of Directors 
 
  
 
How many times have you driven out to Stagecoach Reservoir and wondered about the little log cabin leaning into the hillside on the left? The beautiful setting along Morrison Creek was chosen by one of the Yampa Valley’s first settlers, and it bears the unique window casing for which the cabin will forever be known as the “Diamond Window Cabin."
 
It has been said that the “Diamond Window Cabin” was built in the 1880’s, but no reports can be found to confirm this information. It is known that PJ Gardner obtained the land where the Diamond Window Cabin is located in 1911 through the Homestead Act of 1862, but investigations Diamond Window Cabinseveral summers ago revealed newspapers with dates before 1911. Mr. Gardner owned the land until 1931 when he sold it to James Gilruth, who then sold to John Hewison in 1938. Hewison sold the property to Kenneth Dale in 1948. Dale owned the property until 1956 when he sold it to Bruce and Linda Henderson. The Hendersons sold the property to the Division of Wildlife which has graciously allowed access to HRC! to restore the building.   
 
While little is known about the full history of the cabin, several Routt County residents remember living in the cabin. In fact, HRC! just recently received a donation from Jan Sattler, granddaughter of Ross and Mildred Ingram, “for the preservation of the Diamond Window Cabin on Yellow Jacket Pass in memory of our family members that lived in the cabin for a short time in the 1920’s.”   It was also stated that the cabin acted as a School House and may have had a two-story stage stop behind it. 
 
   The “Diamond Window Cabin” was placed on the Routt County Register of Historic Properties in 2005. 
 
In our office is a picture of the cabin taken in 1985.  Although all its window sash and doors were gone, its ridgeline was ramrod straight.  It stood tall against the hillside.  But the wood shingles were weathered thin, their edges receding, and in many places they were missing altogether.  Not surprisingly, twenty years later, several of the rafters have rotted and failed, the ridgeline sags ominously, and the cabin is sinking into the hillside.  
 
Recognizing its iconic stature attained over years of standing sentinel over Morrison Creek Valley, HRC! took its first steps toward restoring the Diamond Window Cabin to its 1985 appearance in 2006. This winter and spring, we are renewing that effort.  With help from local contractor Cactus Beauregard, retired industrial arts teacher Johnny Walker and volunteer Dr. Brian Edwards, we shored up the roof and walls to withstand this winter's snows and winds.    We were able to use recycled framing lumber from HomeResource at the Milner Landfill.  We plan to begin the restoration this summer.   
 
Due to the extent of the deterioration, the restoration will involve repair and wholesale replacement of sections of the sill logs where they rotted into the hillside. The loss of drainage above the Cabin caused water to pool around the sill logs, saturating them time and again with every rain storm.  Years of winter snows were banked against the logs as well, keeping them moist and ripe for decay.   
 
The roof will be reconstructed with replacement rafters and sheathing boards, and the logs at the top of the walls will be pulled in and stabilized. Next fall, we will all see a restored Diamond Window Cabin once again standing proudly on the west side of Blacktail Mountain watching over Stagecoach Reservoir. 
 
How will we accomplish all this? With a little bit of luck, generous contributions, a lot of hard work, and a new partnership with Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus (see related article). 
 
Routt County is in danger of losing this unique and recognizable landmark. We as a community can save this endangered landmark! Please support the “Diamond Window Cabin” campaign. If you would like to get involved with or contribute to the restoration of the Diamond Window Cabin, please call HRC! at 875-1305, write us at P.O. Box 775717, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477, or email us at hrc@historicrouttcounty.org. 
   
 
 
Historic Routt County and Colorado Mountain College have joined to bring CMC’s Historic Preservation program to Routt County. 
 
Since 2006, CMC’s Leadville Campus has offered an Associates of Applied Sciences Degree and certificate programs in Historic Preservation. The CMC Alpine Campuscurriculum uses three core components to learning: classroom, laboratory, and field experience (experiential learning). This approach to Historic Preservation teaches the student not only the theory and law behind preservation, but also gives students the technical skills to actually restore and rehabilitate historic properties through hands-on learning in a controlled environment and on-site. The partnership between HRC! and CMC is unique among college programs, and it is highly synergistic.
 
The Historic Preservation program at the Alpine Campus in Steamboat Springs began in January with an Introduction to Historic Preservation class. The class, being taught by HRC! Executive Director Towny Anderson has 12 registered students. Eventually the Alpine Campus will have its own “living” laboratory and workshops where students can learn first-hand crafting skills. 
 
Historic Routt County! and CMC are currently negotiating a management agreement whereby HRC! will organize classes, recruit students and instructors, develop projects and learning opportunities, raise funds, and administer and manage the program. CMC will market the program, provide classroom and laboratory space, and pay instructors to teach in the classroom and laboratories and on-site. 
 
This summer, CMC students and community volunteers are being offered an opportunity to take a full credit course on log structures preservation and reconstruction taught by a regional log restoration professional. The course is scheduled for four weeks – July 20 to August 14. The Diamond Window Cabin will be the field-based laboratory. 
 
Next fall, CMC will offer up to three more classes: The History of American Architecture, Historical Research and Documentation, and The Dynamics of Historic Preservation: Law, Business and Economics. Stay tuned for more developments with this unique partnership. 
 
 
Local Historic Designation 
for Five Routt County Properties
 
 
Through a grant from the Colorado State Historical Fund, Historic Routt County!, a local nonprofit, helped five properties to be designated to the Routt County Register of Historic Properties in 2007 and 2008. Placement on the Routt County Historic Register is based on the properties’ cultural and/or architectural significance in the community. There are now 89 properties listed on the County Register. Listing on the Routt County Register of Historic Properties is honorary, not regulatory, and confers a number of benefits once the property is designated.
 
The five properties include: Crosson’s M&A Market and the Yampa-Egeria Museum in Yampa; Mission Building-Pool Hall and Elkhead Rock Schoolhouse in Hayden; and Humble Ranch in Steamboat Springs.
 
The J.W. Hugus-First National Bank of Hayden was also nominated for designation to the Routt County Register with the State Historical Fund grant. While its cultural and historical value is unquestionable, the Routt County Historic Preservation Board felt that modifications to the building over the years did not warrant historic designation at this time. However the Board encouraged the property owners to re-submit its nomination if they planned to restore the original brick on the West Façade and main entrance on Walnut Street currently covered with wood sheathing applied in the 1970’s.   
 
Two other buildings in Routt County were approved for the Routt County Register of Historic Properties through applications submitted by private individuals with technical assistance from HRC!. They are the Remington House in Steamboat and the Hi-Way Bar and Grill in Hayden.
 
Historic Routt County applied for and received a State Historical Fund grant in 2007. The grant helped introduce property owners to the designation process and underwrite the costs to compile information and write the applications for designation. Historic Routt County! has been a frequent beneficiary of State Historical Fund grants. 
 
Historic Routt County! (HRC!) is a nationally recognized, award winning non-profit historic preservation organization that is dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage of Routt County communities and rural areas. Funding for its efforts comes from a portion of the Routt County Museum and Heritage Fund Mill Levy as well as memberships, grants and private donations.
The State Historical Fund was created by the 1990 constitutional amendment allowing limited gaming in the towns of Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk.  The amendment directs that a portion of the gaming tax revenues be used for historic preservation throughout the state.  The Fund assists in a wide variety of preservation projects including restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings, architectural assessments, archaeological excavations, designation and interpretation of historic places, preservation planning studies, and education and training programs.
 
For more information on any of these properties, photos, or HRC! please contact Towny Anderson or Dawn Fenimore at the contact information provided above. Following are brief descriptions of the designated buildings’ cultural and architectural significance to their communities. 
  
 
 
In 2006, Historic Routt County! received a State Historical Fund grant to record information on properties of historical significance in the South Walnut Street area of Hayden. Mountain Architecture Design Group, P.C. was contracted to document these properties which ultimately numbered 28 [CHECK FACTS]. 
 
The goal of historical surveys is to establish base information, including location, configuration, construction, construction history and historical associations. These elements establish the historical significance of a resource and the possibility of being listed on the Routt, State or National Register of Historic Places. Historical surveys also provide the core research for a historic district defined as “a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development.”
 
The Hayden Survey mostly encompassed Walnut and Jefferson Streets and includes the Mission Building – Pool Hall, currently the Hayden Market Place, and Norvell’s Mercantile, currently the HiWay Bar, both of which were placed on the Routt County Register of Historic Places in 2008.
 
All the documentation has been submitted to the State Historical Fund, and HRC! is awaiting confirmation from the Fund that we can notice a public meeting to present the findings to property owners and interested citizens in Hayden. 
 
Please check www.historicrouttcounty.org and the Steamboat Pilot Happenings for more information.
 

 

Last edited by meg_tully on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 18:20