Downtown officials from across Colorado gathered on Grand Junction’s Main Street this month to celebrate the things that make local economic hubs work, as Downtown Colorado Inc. held its annual awards event to recognize projects across Colorado.
A selection of award winners participated in a panel discussion with Colorado Matters Senior Host Ryan Warner about the delicate balance that produces a vibrant downtown.
“If your local community is out there using your downtown, that creates a year-round economy rather than a tourist economy,” Downtown Colorado Inc. Executive Director Kat Correll said. “It also creates a more authentic community with a real identity, and you create a sense of belonging with your people.”
Joining Correll on the panel were Longmont Downtown Development Authority Director Kimberlee McKee; Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo Authority Executive Director Lynn Clark and developer Jason Raible, who co-owns the new Rathbone Hotel & Parlor Bar in Montrose.
All three were part of award-winning projects recognized by DCI at the event in Grand Junction. Pueblo won for its boathouse and channel expansion, a $15.97 million addition to the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk. Longmont was recognized in the partnership category for a $4.3 million historic renovation project that refurbished three buildings. In Montrose, Raible and his partner Clay Bales overhauled a building constructed in 1909 to create a boutique hotel in the area’s downtown neighborhood.
Renovating a historic downtown building is popular, but not easy. Raible said the Rathbone remodel project was littered with setbacks and hurdles, including a revelation as to how Cascade Avenue, where the Rathbone is located, got its name.
“There was a major aquifer underneath this building, meaning that we had to put in almost 200 structural micro-piles down almost 100 feet down to a solid substrate so that building could be what it is today,” Raible said.
The city of Montrose contributed to the multimillion dollar project on a number of fronts, including asbestos remediation. Raible said public aid was vital to making the project economically viable.
“It doesn't happen without the state's help. It doesn't happen without the local help,” Raible said.
However, it’s not always public dollars that are needed to make tricky projects viable. McKee said the city of Longmont’s biggest assistance on a local renovation project came by connecting the right people to the right projects. On top of that, knowing what the community wants is important before committing the community’s resources.
“We had a hotel project that was also a public-private partnership, and we really said, ‘You know what? We'd love to have a rooftop restaurant,’” McKee said. “And they said, If this rooftop isn't a local hangout, we have failed,’ so that is a hotel that has a real local feel.”
Correll said embracing a downtown’s unique features and identity is core to a successful community.
“Place-based community economic development starts with ‘place,’” Correll said. “You want to get into the history of that place, the people who were there from the very beginning, the industry that started it.”
Clark, with the Pueblo Riverwalk, said embracing the legacy of the Arkansas River through Pueblo was central to building a coalition to fund and support the project. She said the Arkansas River was historically a part of Pueblo, but over the years, a levee had been built, water rerouted and the character changed. In the 1990s, Pueblo began exploring ways to bring back the original character of the area.
“These citizens said, ‘Let's create something new.’ We brought the river back, and that was the theme back in the ‘90s: Bring the river back, and it went to a vote of the people. They passed it. We've continued to make it accessible to all. It's free,” Clark said.
At the same time, Raible said downtowns operate in the context of their broader community. Montrose is often where visitors to Telluride fly in before catching a shuttle to the famous ski town. The Rathbone is an obvious stopping point for those visitors, but Raible said the combined efforts of the project amount to a nice stop for visitors and the restoration of a beloved building for locals in the downtown area.
“It's definitely been a welcome addition for the neighborhood, considering that the building was shuttered for about 10 or 12 years before we got there,” Raible said. “The building was crumbling. There were pieces of it falling off down on the sidewalk. Today it’s better for everybody involved.”
Victor, located in Teller County, stands out to Correll, particularly because of the ground-up emphasis of the locals there.
Correll said a handful of local residents created their own group called the “Facade Squad” to offer minor repairs and improvements to downtown businesses to spruce up the central business area.
“They just walked around to the different businesses and building owners, and they were like, ‘Can we paint your building?’ And then they went to the hardware store, and they were like, ‘Can you donate us some paint?’” Correll said, noting that they needed some maneuvering around liabilities that may not be possible in every town. “They got the supplies, and they painted that whole town.”
Correll also pointed to Cañon City. Clark noted Salida for its use of the Arkansas River that runs next to town, as well as the area’s commitment to the arts. Raible noted Telluride as one of his favorite Colorado downtowns, and McKee pointed to Fort Collins for its creativity in working around having Highway 287 running through town.
“They've done a fantastic job taking their alleys and making them places that you want to have art and unexpected things in every place you turn,” she said. “I would say they are the perfect mid-size city.”
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