More than $170 million has been spent by Colorado communities over the past 13 years to repair, protect and preserve the buildings and sites that give each one their distinctive character. These landmarks, small or large, private or public, make each town different and authentically Western.
The $170 million is just a fraction of the total dollars that have gone into the pot, and is based on grants from the State Historical Fund, financed by gambling proceeds from casinos in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek. The fund is administered by the Colorado Historical Society, and the grants, made all over the state, are provided through an eminently fair procedure.
The result is that Colorado’s looking good. Really good.
So it’s a perfect time to add a new component to a major industry: heritage tourism. The state cut off dollars to tourism for almost a decade and only recently began to officially maintain such an office. This year, the legislature allocated $5.5 million for tourism, and a historical fund grant of $550,000 was made to initiate the heritage tourism component. That’s a new idea for a state that based most tourist promotion on natural beauty, resorts and recreation.
“Study after study across the country shows that heritage tourists stay longer [and] spend more,” said Amy Webb of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Heritage Tourism Office. At least 27 other states have some sort of heritage tourism programs, and such travelers are considered high-value visitors.
In an era when too much seems phony, Colorado is the real thing, with towns that keep their Western flavor. Our state offers the Meeker Sheep Dog Competition, Rocky Ford Melon Days, the Kit Carson Carousel in Burlington and Trinidad, a stop on the Old Santa Fe Trail with an abundance of beautiful Victorian buildings. We’ve got towns with hot springs that were the elite draws of Victorian tourism, and railroads that journey through amazing scenery have preserved mining history in Georgetown, Central City and Leadville. We have a rich Spanish heritage, an awesome Native American legacy, and our agricultural landscapes bring dreams of the Old West.
Since 1989, the scenic byways program has introduced the adventurous to the road less traveled: The state now has 24 byways, of which eight are also American Byways. The Heritage Tourism Program would expand the discovery to other, less-known communities and areas and give our small rural communities a way to attract and delight visitors who savor the unexpected.
A 2003 Longwood survey of tourists found that almost half of the visitors to our state enjoy historic sites, museums and cultural activities and rated their experience very highly.
Such authentic experience appeals to families with children, retirees and baby boomers who’ve done a lot of travel and appreciate the different and authentic.
The Colorado Tourism Office’s Scott Campbell, manager of heritage tourism, said the goal was to develop programs that emphasized our history and culture for visitors’ enjoyment.
To help determine what would be most productive in the program, an advisory committee of representatives from the Colorado Historical Society, Colorado Preservation Inc., Scenic Byways, the National Trust, Historic Denver, Historic Georgetown, the Eastern Plains and the Western Slope has been holding meetings. Public input is wanted too.
Meetings are scheduled Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt, 555 17th St., downtown Denver; Wednesday at El Pueblo History Museum, 301 N. Union Ave., Pueblo; June 27 at the Strater Hotel I in Durango; and June 28 at the Museum of Western Colorado in Grand Junction. All are from 10 a.m. to noon.
We inherited the breathtaking mountains and awesome plains that enthrall settlers and visitors alike. The buildings, communities and cultures crafted by man are just as significant. Heritage tourism can highlight these unique places and produce economic benefits for the communities too.
Joanne Ditmer’s column on environmental and urban issues for The Post began in 1962 and now appears on the third Sunday of the month.
