Preservation Partnerships: Colorado schools join forces to train future historic preservation professionals

Originally published in Colorado History NOW, May/June 2007

Historic preservation is big business, as evidenced by the myriad historic buildings in Colorado that are being restored for new uses.  Building rehabilitation projects brought $2 billion to the state’s economy between 1981 and 2005, according to last year’s Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation in Colorado study.  But who is doing this specialized work?

The demand for qualified preservation professionals—construction managers, architects, and craftspeople—is growing.  But college-level instruction in these disciplines has lacked integration, with three colleges offering separate pieces of the curriculum.

This need for multi-discipline training in both preservation principles and practical skills has led to a new Preservation Technology Partnership between the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC), Colorado State University (CSU) and Colorado Mountain College (CMC).  Using a nearly $200,000 start-up grant from the State Historical Fund, the partnership is developing a program that integrates preservation technology with architectural and construction management education.

“Part of the State Historical Fund’s mission is education,” said James Stratis, State Historical Fund preservation projects manager.  “So it’s quite fitting that we should provide the financial incentive for the schools to work together.”

Each of the three participating schools brings its own expertise to the table.  UCDHSC offers a certificate in historic preservation.  CSU offers a master’s degree in construction management with an emphasis in historic preservation.  CMC offers an associate’s degree in preservation studies, new last fall, emphasizing crafts and trades such as carpentry, masonry, and plastering.

Chris Koziol, director of the Architectural Preservation Institute at CSU, said teaching staff from the three schools are working together on the project.  “We want to give our students these learning opportunities, so faculty members from all three schools are quite involved in getting the program going.”

Students and faculty from the three schools are working together on real preservation projects, called “field schools.” The Hayden Ranch near Leadville, dating back to the 1870s, is the program’s first field school.  Purchased by Colorado Preservation, Inc., in 2005, the 1,800-acre ranch is being restored with the help of grants from the State Historical Fund.  Once it is rehabilitated, the ranch will be the home of CMC’s preservation studies program.

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