Breckenridge – The uncertain distinction between “historic” and “just old” had a construction contractor here facing jail time last week.
In a case that resonates across the nation, Randy Kilgore, who once was named local contractor of the year for his historic preservation work, was convicted of illegally demolishing a portion of a 122-year-old house in a community where old mining shacks now sell for $1 million.
“The town of Breckenridge boasts one of largest historic districts in Colorado and takes very seriously the responsibility of preserving this community’s historic past which is anchored by historic structures,” said town spokeswoman Kim DiLallo.
Town planners say Kilgore went beyond approved plans by tearing out historic walls of Kate Brewer’s quaint sky-blue Victorian home.
But Kilgore argues that the portion of the venerable J.W. Evans house that he ripped open was not historic, but a 1940s add-on, and that he was cited only because town inspectors moved too slowly to confirm that fact before the debris was hauled away.
“It was unjustified, and it was an abuse of process, and it was just a wrong thing to do,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t historic when I was working on it.”
Historic-preservation advocates contend that clashes like this are cropping up with greater frequency across the country, particularly in high-dollar resort areas where municipal fines no longer are sufficient deterrents to destroying old structures.
“Sometimes there are just mistakes, of course, but what we’re seeing is an increasing trend of intentional destruction,” said Dan Corson of the state office of archaeology and historic preservation.
Towns like Breckenridge are beginning to fight back, though, with tough new ordinances that include jail time and even the potential loss of livelihood for wayward contractors.
In Aspen, for instance, property owners who direct the destruction of designated historic structures can be handcuffed by a 10-year freeze on any construction permits for the property.
“That in itself is a pretty big deterrent,” said Amy Guthrie, historic-preservation officer for the town. “We also can require that they undo whatever they did, which can be costly.”
In Denver and Boulder, and in more than 100 Colorado communities with historic-preservation efforts, strict guidelines clamp down on owners.
“These communities look at historic preservation as community-development and economic-development enterprises as much as for preserving their past,” said Sam Mamet, associate director of the Colorado Municipal League. “They see it as a way of attracting people into their communities, as a way to entice tourists, as a way to keep their Main Streets vital.”
For resort towns like Breckenridge, Telluride and Crested Butte, historic-preservation efforts often run headlong into big money, Corson said.
“The lesson with some of these mountain communities is if they did not have historic-preservation efforts, they would look like Vail and Copper Mountain. … Not that those aren’t nice places, but they are places in their own time,” he said.
Officials in Breckenridge, which pins its identity on its gentrified mining-town character, had been considering tougher regulations even before Kilgore tore out and replaced the kitchen of the house.
“We need a bigger stick – enforcement and penalties,” Town Council member Eric Mamula said at a planning commission meeting in February. “We’ve lost a lot of (historic) fabric. Everyone claims ignorance and most likely knows what they are doing before they do it.”
Kilgore, whose wife, Janet Sutterley, is an architect who sits on the town’s historic-preservation commission, contends he left messages with the building department for three days before hauling off the old material.
When enforcement officers did show up, they were “shocked to see the entire rear historic structure missing,” according to a written report, and later issued a “red tag,” stopping work for 2 1/2 months.
Although officials conceded that the kitchen was not as old as the rest of the house, they pointed to a stamp on the blueprints that stated: “No historic materials are to be removed from this house without the written consent of the town.”
Municipal Judge Buck Allen ultimately suspended the 10-day jail sentence for Kilgore but fined him $1,000.
“This town is proud of its heritage, and that heritage forms the unique character of Breckenridge,” Allen said. “The town wants to maintain that character and charm.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
