Fires impact and change communities like few events can. Durango has experienced many fires in its 134-year history, but the Aug. 24, 1974, fire in Durango’s 800 block of Main Avenue stands out for its devastation and lasting effects on the community.
That fire consumed six buildings, destroyed eight businesses and took the lives of firefighter Nick Parks III and policeman Gale Emerson. I shared the grief of their families and co-workers because the Parks family had been our neighbors on Crestview, and I had gone to high school with both Nick and Gale.
People in the community were stunned by the devastation.
Things were bad enough. President Nixon had resigned only two weeks before, the country was spiraling into recession and locals were struggling with growth issues. In spite of divisiveness in the community, the disaster brought people together. Restaurants provided food for firefighters, motels accepted displaced residents of the Metropole and Taylor apartments and the business community helped find jobs for the unemployed and temporary locations for businesses ruined by the fire.
The big question was what would be done about the “huge, ugly gap” in the heart of Durango’s business district. Ed Thompson, one of the burned-out property owners, had once called the 800 block the “100 percent best business block in town.” Ed and his wife, Pauline, had recently sold the Thompson’s Saddle Shop business but had retained ownership of the building. They and the other property owners – Lester (Bus) and Hazel Gardenswartz, Robert (Mac) and Nina Jim McCarty and Robert and Martha Siverson – formed a partnership to rebuild as soon as possible.
They hired architect Richard Walker, who had opened his business in Durango in 1968. Many locals wanted to see a building that would blend with the town’s predominantly historic architecture; others “had had enough and wanted something modern.” Walker, who was both an architect and a structural engineer, drew up plans that seemed to satisfy the owners and most of the residents. In Walker’s words, “Regarding the architecture, we will maintain the atmosphere of downtown Durango. The building will not be a replica of Victorian architecture, but it will maintain those features.”
The new building, called the Main Mall, was designed to be an enclosed mall built of red brick with elongated, arched windows, a recessed entry, a skylight to illuminate the central common area and a corbeled-brick cornice. There would be 41,000 square feet of leasable space with 30,000 square feet for “open-area activity.” The building would also include underground parking – a first for the community, and a feature everyone supported. In 1979, the Rocky Mountain News said that “The Main Mall is a stunning property – designed with sensitivity to blend and complement the predominantly Victorian architecture of the area.”
Columbine Valley Development of Denver submitted the winning construction bid of $1,699,000, and Bus Gardenswartz wielded the golden shovel in the ceremonial groundbreaking on July 14, 1975. The official dedication occurred on June 18, 1976, with Larry McDaniel (attorney for the West 800 partnership and my father) as master of ceremonies. Most of the more than 30 available spaces were leased within a few months.
Construction of the Main Mall coincided with the growing movement to preserve Durango’s architectural heritage. In the 10 years before the fire, Durango’s historic courthouse and city hall had been demolished, along with several historic buildings near the depot in what was known as Rio Grande Land. In 1980-81, Durango’s centennial year, concerned residents secured National Register historic district designation for Main Avenue. Third Avenue received the same designation three years later, and by 1990, the city had adopted a formal historic preservation program for the community. The foresight of the West 800 partners started the movement for sensitively designed modern buildings in Durango’s historic downtown.
Appropriately, a plaque honoring Nick Parks and Gale Emerson was installed near the mall’s entrance. The two public servants were also honored in public ceremonies and with the naming of the new 32nd Street bridge as the Emerson-Parks Bridge. Memorial Park between East Third Avenue and the Animas River also takes its name from the Emerson-Parks memorial plaque near the juncture of the park and the bridge.
The Hundred Club of Durango is another enduring legacy of the fire. Doug Morrison (then owner of KIUP radio station) spearheaded the effort to canvass civic-minded residents for $100 donations in the months after the fire. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised initially. Then, as now, the organization provides financial support to dependents of firefighters, law enforcement and public safety personnel who are injured or killed in the line of duty. With careful management, the club’s assets 40 years hence have grown to several times the original amount. The club’s slogan, “Their Risks Never Go Away and Neither Will We” is a fitting tribute to Parks, Emerson and others who make the ultimate sacrifice.
Robert McDaniel is the former director of the Animas Museum and a fourth-generation Durango native. Reach him at robertmc68@gmail.com.
