Historic Colorado Spa Faces Destruction
Readers seek help for preservation emergencies
/ June 10, 2003
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Manitou Spa, Manitou Springs, Colo. (Michelle
Anthony)
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Dear Preservation 911,
I am a resident of Manitou Springs, Colo., and I'm
trying to help the owner of a National Register-listed building
stop a demolition threat from the city. The building is the Historic
Manitou Spa, built in 1920, which Colorado Preservation, Inc.,
listed in 2000 as one of "Colorado's Most Endangered Places."
The town cannot afford to compensate the owner
under eminent domain since the Spanish revival building has appraisals
of over $2 million, and we are a small community. Instead, town
officials are threatening to demolish the structure as a nuisance
(it has been derelict since 1999) and assess the cost of the demolition
to the property. The owner only gained clear title to the property
four months ago and has since addressed the issues of public safety,
which originally prompted the order for demolition. He is aggressively
marketing the building to redevelopers, but City Hall apparently
believes the "blight" can be remedied more quickly by
demolition than by encouraging redevelopment.
The owner has been told that he can forestall demolition
for a year and try to sell the building during that time on one
condition: that he remove it immediately from the National Register.
Is it really possible for a municipality in Colorado
to demolish a building without acquiring the property, then tax
the owner for the demolition costs? We expect terrorists to destroy
buildings without just cause or compensation, but we don't expect
it from our elected officials!
I am a member of a citizen's group that successfully
defeated an attempt to amend our historic-preservation ordinance
so that any property owner could opt out of the Historic District
at will. But we're having a harder time with this issue since
City Hall mostly listens to business owners who complain about
the "blight" and don't welcome the competition that
the building's retail spaces would provide.
Please help!
Sincerely,
David Beers
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