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Progress pulverizes the pay phone

An adieu to superseded technology

Superman would have a hard time finding a place to change in Durango these days.

Pay phones are fast disappearing as cellphones have become ubiquitous. Only a few remain in the Durango area. You can find a pay phone at a few grocery stores and gas stations – that’s about it.

As pay phone revenue has dropped, operators have ripped out the familiar boxes across the nation. A certain poignancy often lingers at the empty, discolored spaces they leave behind.

The Strater Hotel, built only about a decade after Alexander Graham Bell’s invention was patented, has three phone booths that date back many years. Each offers a small table to lean on. A light comes on when you slide closed the wood-framed glass doors.

“The pay phones at the Strater were pulled out about five years ago,” owner Rod Barker said. “We tried very hard to keep them going just as a long-term tradition sort of a thing, and they just weren’t making any money at all, so the provider that had the phones pulled them out.”

The booths remain, along with seven volumes of phone books that cover Southwest Colorado, Albuquerque, Grand Junction, Colorado Springs and Denver.

Barker said the booths are “some of the oldest in town.” He’s considering renovating them for modern use. “We thought we might put in Internet access in those booths – we’ll see,” he said.

The idea of converting phone booths to provide Internet access isn’t unique. New York City has partnered with private companies to install Wi-Fi hotspots at more than 20 phone booths.

In Durango, working pay phones remain at Walmart, south City Market in Town Plaza and a few gas stations – including the Conoco station at Ninth Street and Camino del Rio and Valero at 1801 Main Ave.

At City Market, the phone stands near a Redbox movie vending machine and a propane tank exchange, both of which appear to get far more use.

Several locals who were interviewed said they hadn’t used a pay phone in a decade or more.

“It was probably before we got an iPhone,” said Rob Blair, 70, of Durango.

Riel Maestas, 17, came close to using a pay phone recently when his cellphone ran out of power. Instead, he bought a $15 phone charger.

As Cody James, 29, of Durango, pointed out, it’s easy to borrow a cellphone if needed.

Pay phones seem oversized in today’s nano world. Qwest’s Classic Payphone, one of the most popular models, weighs 44 pounds. The iPhone 5s weighs just less than 4 ounces, or less than 1 percent of the pay phone’s heft.

Yet for many, pay phones have always served a purpose in emergencies. Jon Park, 45, of Durango, said he’s used pay phones when his car has broken down or become stuck. “I’d like to see them around now and then,” he said.

Van Likness, 64, said he hasn’t had a cellphone since 2000. “I just didn’t want anybody calling me,” he said. “Now I’m retired, and it’s even better.”

Likness regularly uses pay phones. He said he just bought a calling card – $10 for 150 minutes. Calling from a pay phone incurs a 30-minute penalty. Calling medical-insurance companies or others with automated lines tends to eat up minutes, he said.

Not having a cellphone has changed Likness’ life in some small, unexpected ways. “I haven’t ordered a pizza in a decade,” he said.

A few places in town have phones they’ll let the public use. Manna Soup Kitchen has a phone for those in need to place calls. A free phone at the Durango Community Recreation Center can be used to make local calls.

Likness said pay phones’ rapid disappearance hurts people who rely on them. “The people losing out are the people that need them,” he said.

Many local pay phones are managed by FSH Communications, which acquired Qwest’s (now CenturyLink) Colorado pay phone operations in 2004. A message left for FSH was not returned.

At the La Plata County Jail, people being released from custody can use a free phone in the booking area.

“I doubt if it gets used much any more at all,” said Capt. Mike Slade, detention division commander for the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

Within the cell blocks, inmates use a commercial phone system provided by Securus, a company based in Dallas that has phone systems in 2,200 correctional facilities.

All calls are recorded, and the jail can block inmates from calling certain numbers if necessary. Inmates and friends and family can buy phone time through the jail commissary.

Jailbirds excepted, mobile phones have made pay phones largely obsolete. There’s even a collector’s market for some old pay phones and booths.

Chris Martin, owner of T’s Smokehouse and Grill, has a British phone booth on his patio. It was shipped over by Martin’s landlord.

The booth is popular for high school and wedding photos, Martin said.

cslothower@durangoherald.com



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