Downtown Today

The changing face of a Downtown
By Indiana Reed as seen in Durango Magazine

Take a walking tour of Durango’s central business district, but be sure to look up.

The downtown hasn’t lost its character – historic and funky still flavor the feel. But glimpse at the buildings with a more discerning eye. Contemporary interpretations of the original “look” have taken place or are underway, as the sometimes century-old structures are renovated to realize new life and keep pace with Durango’s evolution.

It’s all a part of the concerted effort to sustain downtown in the face of competitive forces – forces that have extinguished the hearts and souls of similar towns across the country. To Durango’s great benefit, it has been blessed with successive generations of thoughtful, involved citizens who genuinely care about downtown’s on-going viability.

“I think what’s important about downtown Durango is that we’re lucky to have the heritage we have in existence. The first building code was adopted in 1890,” says Greg Hoch, Durango’s director of planning and community development. “There had been a big fire and a large portion of the downtown burned in 1889. They said of rebuilding, build of brick and stone so it doesn’t burn. So we’re very lucky as a community, and we have, as a result, this large number of pretty nice brick and stone buildings.”

In successive years, progressive visioning has continued. A team pushing the Heritage for Tomorrow program in the early ‘70s led to tree planting along Main Ave.; a hue and cry over questionable building colors and gaudy signage, helped establish the first design guidelines in the ‘80s as part of the Main Street Program; and a desire in the ‘90s to recapture visual heritage initiated installation of historic amenities such as benches, street lamps and trash receptacles.

With the dawn of the new millennium, another effort to sustain the downtown emerged, largely in response to the “big box” development along the southeast Highway 550/160 corridor.

“We should be very honest with ourselves that for our downtown to survive it has to be economically viable,” says Bobby Lieb, former director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce and La Plata Economic Development Action Partnership. “Even with all the emotional buy-in we’ve seen recently, without the economic activity, it doesn’t survive.”

The emotional buy-in, according to Lieb, has come from across the board – leadership organizations, merchants and even residents – all with an evolving realization of the need for “consumers” in the downtown – both locals and guests.

“I truly believe that downtown simply needs more people,” stresses Bob Allen, a long-time commercial appraiser who maintains a passion for downtown’s sustainability. “Downtown is holding its own. We’ve recovered back to the pre-wildfire levels in 2002. That’s not to say that all the competitive threats are going away.”

“After the fires, when we saw the sales tax revenues decline in the Central Business District, it was a wake-up call that our CBD – as good as it is – is still vulnerable,” echoes Lieb.

So the community launched what has been a multi-year effort to develop a downtown vision and strategic plan, the final version of which will soon come before the City Council. “People” are at its core – bring more downtown residents and workers; increase public activities and events; and appeal to all through maintenance and enhancement of the authentic, and unique, Durango ambiance.

Arguably, topping the list in importance is “infill,” a term used by planning professionals to focus activity in an existing core by creating more living spaces, mixed with new commercial. To that end, downtown property owners are stepping up to renovate older buildings, and construct new – including the Stilwell Building at the corner of Main and 7th; The Crossroads, at Main and 11th, and The 1201 Lofts, at Main and 12th, as well as a host of smaller, more spot offerings. As per design codes, the buildings cannot be cartoon-like replications of the historic, but contemporary statements that speak to Durango’s heritage.

“Infill is key,” says Rick Feeney, architect for the 1201 Lofts and strong proponent of traditional neighborhood or “New Urbanism” development. “It contributes to the vitality and safety by having people downtown 24-7. Plus, if you’re not in your car, you stay a little longer.”

“The other thing with infill that I really think is an important trend is that if you get people living downtown, you’re going to get a core of people who really care,” says Phil Bryson, developer of The Crossroads, the largest mixed use project in the offing. “This is their living spot.”

Indeed, a higher concentration of people leads to retail patronage, and key among retailers downtown are eating establishments. According to Allen, Civitas – the consulting group hired to prepare the visioning plan – the downtown business sector with the greatest growth, based on sales tax revenue over the past three years, has been restaurants.

“When you think about it, for a western mountain town, if you want to go to a restaurant you can get darn near anything you want,” says Allen. “And it’s good.”

Problematic to many of the would-be CBD renovators is, however, the city’s stringent parking requirements. Though ostensibly put in place to mitigate the number of vehicles parking downtown, they have served as a roadblock for those one-story building owners who aspire to add a second or third story for office or residential units. In its vision plan, Civitas strongly recommended relaxing the requirements to encourage redevelopment similar to what can be seen with the older buildings in the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Main.

“Why are we stopping that?” asks Allen. “We should be encouraging people to build second and third stories.”

Precedence was perhaps set with the Stilwell Building. A mixed use facility with ground floor retail and three upscale condominiums above, the final three-story structure was only financially feasible to owner Greg Stilwell if parking requirements were relaxed. To maintain the visual consistency of Main Ave., especially in the block housing the Historic Strater Hotel, the City Council agreed to less parking. But as it is, going forward, projects are taken case-by-case.

Not limiting vehicular traffic does forecast a day when downtown is choked. The actual residents may not drive much, but a plan is needed to bring in workers, outlying residents and guests.

Durango does continue its progressive look at alternative transit options. Soon the Animas River Trail, which runs from 32nd St. to developments in the south highway corridor, and encourages off-road pedestrian and bicycle traffic, will be complete. Bicycle to work days are organized, and some downtown renovators are incorporating bicycle parking in their plans.

“There have been major national studies about compact, diverse neighborhoods that are walkable,” says Feeney. “It is a huge health benefit.”
Encouraged use of the trail will also ostensibly incorporate the river into downtown redevelopment as never before, enhancing the vibrancy with new tendrils that can feed downtown activities and businesses.

“It’s undisputable that downtown is the beating heart of the community,” says Lieb, “While it’s no longer the largest generator of sales tax revenue, it still is the lynch pin of social activity for the community.”

“We’ve got a great thing going,” says Allen of downtown. “But we’ve got to continue to pay attention. The downtown has to continue to evolve, but doesn’t need shock treatment. Because people are watching it as it goes, hopefully that never needs to happens.”