Home News Laura Bush Announces Preserve America Grants Budget Preserve America Community: Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Steamboat Springs, Colorado (population 6,700), was first settled in 1874. Settlers were drawn by more than 150 thermal mineral springs in the vicinity, and by the early 1900s the town also become a center for winter sports.

A conference room is one of several new spaces in Steamboat Springs, Colorado's, former electric plant, which was built in 1900. (Photo courtesy of the City of Steamboat Springs)

Today the Tread of the Pioneers museum educates visitors and residents about the local history of Native American Utes, explorers, traders, prospectors, and pioneers, as well as the development of the ranching, mining and skiing industries.

This community museum receives approximately 20 percent of its budget from the city through a line budget item, and an additional 50 percent of its funding from dedicated property tax revenue within the city. The museum hosts educational programs throughout the year, focused on school children as well as the public.

Steamboat Springs has been very active in preserving and restoring important historic buildings through public/private partnerships. An outstanding example is the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Carver Power Plant, an empty industrial building, as the focal point of the city's Centennial Hall, a new community facility in the heart of the historic downtown.

This project created needed community office and meeting space, provided space for a new café, and enabled the city to visibly promote historic preservation in the community. Partners included the city and county governments, non-profit organizations, the Colorado Historical Society, the Orton Family Foundation, and many citizen volunteers.

The Rock Creek Stage Stop, once listed on Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s most-endangered places list, is another local asset that has recently been saved through concerted action.

The city has collected survey information on approximately 256 buildings in the core commercial and residential area of historic Old Town, as well as many surrounding ranches and their historic structures. This data is integrated into the city's Geographic Information System database, enabling cost-effective information access for planning and educational purposes.

Each of the city's master planning documents includes a section on historic preservation, illustrating the city's commitment to preserving its cultural, historic, and architectural heritage as a source of civic pride and an essential component of encouraging tourism and economic development.

For more information

Preserve America:
www.PreserveAmerica.gov
Summary of the Preserve America initiative

Steamboat Springs, Colorado:
www.ci.steamboat.co.us

An independent Federal agency, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) promotes historic preservation nationally by providing a forum for influencing Federal activities, programs, and policies that impact historic properties, advising the President and Congress, advocating preservation policy, improving Federal preservation programs, protecting historic properties, and educating stakeholders and the public. For more information, visit the ACHP's Web site at www.achp.gov, or contact Bruce Milhans at 202-606-8513 or bmilhans@achp.gov.

Learn more about ACHP

Posted January 15, 2004

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