Supporting History

Historic Preservation Gamble Pays Off

If we wish to have a future with greater meaning, we must concern ourselves…with all that is worth preserving from our past as a living part of the present.
-U.S. Conference of Mayors, With Heritage So Rich, 1966

In 1990 Colorado's state legislature passed a constitutional amendment legalizing limited stakes gaming in the historic mining towns of Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek and establishing the State Historical Fund (SHF). The ensuing Limited Gaming Act of 1991 (CRS 12-47, 1-1201) authorized the Colorado Historical Society to administer this grant program, which provides funds for historic preservation projects throughout the state. Since 1993, the first year funds were granted, more than 2,000 grants totaling more than $100 million dollars have been awarded by the State Historical Fund, making it the largest state-funded preservation program in the country.

To honor this program and the achievements of SHF grant recipients, the Colorado History Museum has developed the exhibit High Stakes Preservation. The exhibit, which opened April 5 and will run for eighteen months, highlights twenty-four projects that received SHF funding for restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures, acquisition of historic sites, educational program development, and archeological investigation.

The first room of the exhibit provides visitors with background information on historic preservation in Colorado. Many Coloradans may not realize that the roots of historic preservation in our state date back to the early 1900s when private individuals and organizations led efforts to establish Mesa Verde National Park. This desire to save our heritage continued through the twentieth century. In 1953, state law authorized the Colorado Historical Society to acquire significant properties such land and mining claims for the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining and Railroad Park, and in 1966 the National Historic Preservation Act established the Colorado Preservation Office (now the state Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation). These actions laid the groundwork for the Fund's creation in 1990.

The exhibit's next room shows visitors that, although Colorado has emerged as a leader in the historic preservation movement, many important historic sites have been lost. Visitors are provided a glimpse of such lost buildings as the Orpheum Theatre, Old Federal Building Post Office, and the Tabor Block in Denver, the Mineral Palace and Pueblo Opera House in Pueblo, and the Colorado Sanatorium/Hospital in Boulder. Photos and text are provided as a "bay window" at which visitors lift window sashes to view seventeen examples of "Lost Colorado," and at additional kiosk displays.

As visitors continue through the exhibit, kiosks and display cases provide photographs, text, and documentation of twenty-four projects which have received SHF support. These projects range from the restoration of the Daniels and Fisher Tower's lobby and clock in downtown Denver, restoration of the Kit Carson Carousel, acquisition of the Dawson-Carpenter Ranch by the Nature Conservancy, and development of a comprehensive master plan for the preservation of the twentieth-century African American township of Dearfield.

The exhibit offers a number of interactive displays in addition to the bay window, including a video theatre in which educational videos funded by SHF are played on a continuous loop. Visitors may read educational literature published through SHF support at library areas for children and adults. Other educational projects taking advantage of CD-ROM technology are viewable at a computer station. The exhibit has been designed so that many of the features will be available for travel to other sites around the state after the exhibit closes.

With over 2,000 grants awarded since 1993, many people throughout the state are aware of the State Historical Fund, and have seen the difference it has made in preserving our heritage and revitalizing our communities. The advantage of High Stakes Preservation is that visitors will have the opportunity to learn just how wide a range of projects and communities have benefited from the Fund. Come visit this unique exhibit-it might give you ideas for projects in your community.

For more information on the State Historical Fund, please contact the Public Outreach unit at 303/866-2809 or email.

BY ALYSON MCGEE, State Historical Fund Public Outreach Coordinator, with assistance from DAVID NEWELL, Director, Design and Production