The Strater Hotel, Gardenswartz and Burns National Bank buildings are notable examples of historic buildings in Durango. Another recognizable building with deep historical roots is the former Durango High School building turned 9-R administration building at 201 E. 12th St., said Paul Black, Durango Historic Preservation board member.
Next week, Durango City Council will consider a resolution to submit an application to the city’s historic preservation board to designate the former high school as a historic landmark.
Should councilors pass the resolution, it will be considered by the historic preservation board, which will in turn deliver its recommendation back to City Council for final approval.
Black said he’s excited the historic designation of the former Durango High School is finally being taken up.
“It’s long overdue and we’ve got to maintain that structure as, really, a pillar of the Durango community,” he said on Tuesday.
He admires the building’s historic facade and neoclassical design style, as described in a city summary. He said he hasn’t been inside the building in several years, but he recalled the ends of rows in the old auditorium have “DHS” gorgeously stamped into bronze or some other metal. He recalled sconces on the walls and “magnificent” original lighting, which may have been covered by lowered ceilings.
Many historic finishing touches in the building can’t be purchased at a showroom today, he said.
“There’s a lot of finials and wonderful things like that that have been retained. But then there are things that have been trashed,” he said, saying the auditorium for example isn’t what it used to be.
But the building’s exterior is really the cornerstone of its historical significance, he added.
Historic preservation board member Karen Anesi had similar thoughts about the potential historic designation. She said the designation should have happened long ago.
“I’m delighted,” she said. “... I’ve called it the crown jewel of all historic buildings.”
The city purchased the former high school from the Durango Fire Protection District in November 2023. It plans to turn the building and the former Big Picture High School building next door into a joint city hall and police station. It will ask voters to approve a 30-year extension of a 2005 half-cent sales tax to fund the project in the city’s April election.
The Big Picture building, built in 1957, is not under consideration for a historic landmark designation at this time, according to a city news release.
Black said the sooner the old high school is designated as a historic landmark, the sooner the city and the public can get more information about the costs of renovating the building. That information would emphasize the importance of the sales tax in question, he said.
At a historic preservation board meeting in October, Tracy Reynolds, HPB board member and founder of Reynolds Ash + Associates, said RA+A is at a schematic design level for the former high school’s building design. A contractor has been hired to create a preliminary budget for the construction of a new city hall, but designs won’t be developed much more until the April election’s outcome is apparent.
There are 15 buildings or sites, including the Elks Lodge, the Animas Museum and the Animas City Cemetery, with the city’s historic landmark designation. The city has identified one historic district, the Boulevard Historic District, also known as the East Third Avenue National Residential District.
There are additionally 11 districts and individual sites, including the former high school, on state or national historic registers, according to the city.
The former Durango High School building was constructed in 1916-1917. Black said if the city and community lose sight of the former high school, the building will have the same fate a former county courthouse in Durango did in the 1960s – it will be torn down and something “ugly and new” will be built in its place.
Black said historic preservation is a blend of history, culture and education.
“It’s important educationally that we know where we came from,” he said, noting recognition of Indigenous communities and their role in the great Southwest that have become common, for example, in the form of land acknowledgments.
European settlers built “amazing” structures and that should be remembered. The community shouldn’t box itself into a 1960s-2010s architectural style, he said.
Historic architecture is also what makes Durango, particularly historic downtown and East Third Avenue, unique. The old buildings present there were built by early pioneers who made a living atop Southwest Colorado’s harsh landscape.
Looking to the past also helps the community plan for the future, he said, which is where culture contributes to the importance of historic preservation.
“We could become a suburb and look like any other suburb in a big American city. But we don’t want to do that. At least, I don’t think the locals want to do that. They want to retain that historical core and maintain the integrity of the community,” he said.
Some residents might complain about the busy downtown, parking pains and too many boutiques. But as far as Black is concerned, he loves taking his family downtown, visiting shops and eating and restaurants.
Should the former high school become a historic landmark, that designation could set some guidelines for how it can be renovated into a city hall, he said.
City spokesman Tom Sluis said on Saturday the city expects a minimal impact, if any, to potential renovations.
“What can be done to the property is already largely dictated by the existing state and national historic landmark designations on the building,” he said. “A local designation simply demonstrates the city’s commitment to preserving one of the crown jewels of our architectural heritage.”
cburney@durangoherald.com