Revitalizing the Walsenburg Historic Fox Theatre – A CCCD Project
Jul 7, 2020
The project is being overseen by the University Technical Assistance Program (UTA), which is a partnership between CCCD and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The UTA program provides design assistance to rural communities with limited resources for public improvement projects.
Located in southern Colorado, in Huerfano County, Walsenburg has a population of just over 3,000 people. The town’s Fox Theatre opened on 1917, with a design by the Colorado firm I.H. and William M. Rapp. The historic building has received several updates over the years.
The community now hopes to renovate the theater to make it more suitable for modern use. With input from local residents – along with leaders such as Carl Young from the Huerfano County Commissioners and Mike Peters, director of the theater’s board – the UTA team has conceived several schemes that range from modest to ambitious. The latest iterations are posted on the theater’s website, and the local community is invited to weigh in via an online survey. The survey results will help the theater board and county commissioners decide which option to pursue.
Originally, the UTA team had planned to unveil all of the concepts during an in-person event. But the current pandemic forced them to create a virtual presentation that features animations, drawings, and narration. Shown at a series of online community meetings, the 30-minute film is an impressive production!
Jeffrey Wood, an architect who serves as UTA Coordinator, said the design concepts should help catalyze interest in the theater’s renovation.
“The Community engagement process, coupled with the innovative designs, will unlock several funding opportunities that will take the project from the drawing board to the main street in Walsenburg in the very near future (we hope!),” he said.