Durango has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 60 years.
But during the 1960s, the city was still a seasonal tourist town planning for future growth. One of the questions city officials had at the time was where to locate warehouses and manufacturing services, said Steve Short, former chairman of First National Bank of Durango.
It wasn’t until the early 1970s when a collaborative effort led by four banks – First National being one of them – laid the groundwork for a small industrial park on land purchased from the Bodo family south of Durango.
The land would later become what is known as Bodo Industrial Park. The group that started the development would become the Durango Industrial Development Foundation, created in 1972.
For the next 52 years, the organization would help guide and grow Bodo Park.
But in February, DIDF board members voted to dissolve the entity, recognizing the industrial park had been fully built out and efforts to launch a second industrial park near Durango-La Plata County Airport would be cost-prohibitive.
The purpose of developing Bodo was to drive economic growth and diversify the economy, Short said.
During the 1960s, there were few places for businesses to grow, especially in the storage and manufacturing industries, he said. Much of the space in downtown Durango was taken up by automotive businesses.
“Durango was growing at that point and the economy was largely dependent, and still is to a certain extent, on the tourism economy,” Short said.
But unlike today, in which visitors come to Durango on a near year-round basis, the town’s economy was highly seasonal. And seasonal economies mean seasonal employment with fewer viable options for full-time employment.
The Durango Industrial Development Foundation sought to improve that situation by developing the area south of Durango. Downtown businesses at the time, like car dealerships and the Coca-Cola and Pepsi warehouses, needed space to expand.
“They were kind of locked within the confines of the downtown core,” Short said. “There really wasn’t any place for businesses like that to relocate. And additionally, not places for businesses of a similar nature to come into the community and establish themselves and continue to grow and add to the employment base in the community.”
Short said Bodo wasn’t a defining point in Durango’s growth but it was able to complement Durango’s existing amenities that allowed the town to flourish. It enhanced the quality of life for Durango residents, he said.
In 1972, the only way into Durango from the south was by Colorado Highway 3, which was a gravel road. Through the vision of the Durango Industrial Development Foundation, Durango was able to develop road infrastructure that set the tone for developers to build establishments like the Durango Mall, the Centennial Center and more recently the old Mercury building that now houses Axis Health System.
Short said a study done in 1999 showed about 2,000 jobs could be linked to Bodo.
“That’s 2,000 jobs that may not have existed,” he said.
In addition to job creation, the development of Bodo Industrial Park freed up downtown Durango infrastructure for other businesses. There may be no better example of this than Steamworks Brewing Co. The restaurant opened in 1996 and has become one of Durango’s most popular restaurants.
Before it was Steamworks, it was a car dealership, and before that, it was a tire shop. Across the street on East Second Avenue was Murphy Motors, which later became the Durango Creative District location.
A Morehart automotive show lot was located where 2nd Avenue Sports is now. The relocation of these automotive dealerships made way for more restaurants and retail businesses to establish downtown.
“The fact that some of the redevelopment occurred as other businesses moved to Bodo and moved out of downtown really has helped define a better lifestyle opportunity for our entire community,” Short said.
It has been one of the most successful diversification efforts of economic development in Durango, said Don Mapel, former president of Durango Coca-Cola.
“When this thing was created, there was no real estate available,” he said. “And at that time, people were looking to move (their) businesses here (to Durango). For whatever reason, maybe the economy was good. But there was no land available for industrial.”
During the early 2000s, DIDF purchased land near the airport with the intention of paving the way for a second industrial park. But the cost of engineering fees and other expenses made it impossible to get it off the ground, said DIDF board member and President of Morehart Murphy Regional Auto Center Jim Morehart.
With the closing of the DIDF, about $1 million of the foundation’s remaining money was given to the La Plata Economic Development Alliance to be used to create a low-interest housing catalyst to support local workforce housing initiatives.
The low-interest loan fund aims to stimulate workforce housing projects already permitted and in the construction financing stage. The early costs for infrastructure and financing can create roadblocks that prevent projects from getting underway.
“DIDF is excited to contribute to the workforce housing need in our community,” said Jason Portz, DIDF president. “DIDF was established by great community leaders and visionaries in the 1970s to build an industrial park in what is now known as Bodo Park. As times have changed, so have the needs of our community, and this endowment is intended for DIDF to continue to positively impact issues facing our business community.”
Short said Durango’s economic growth now depends on its ability to provide workforce housing, which is why the foundation contributed to the Alliance. The Fort Lewis College Foundation also received over $700,000 from DIDF to establish the Durango Industrial Development Endowment.
The money will support workforce programs, entrepreneurship education and mentoring, and career readiness training. FLC will also receive $250,000 to kickstart its workplace development program over the next three years.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story erred in reporting $1 million of Durango Industrial Development Foundation funds would go toward the Fort Lewis College Katz School of Business.
