Save the Unique!

Today William Smith, confirmed for the Citizen, that Bobby Hartslief, owner of the Unique, has asked him to begin the process of having the Unique demolished in response to the City of Salida’s determination that the structure is unsafe. The City has asked for the Unique to be stabilized or demolished in the next 90 days. We are very pleased the community is responding;  today we received the following letter from Historic Salida about preserving this historic landmark. – ss

Greetings,

There was an excellent discussion at the Historic Salida, Inc., meeting on Friday, May 21, regarding the status of the Unique building (old Salida Opera House) on First Street in downtown Salida. The rear of the building has been examined by the City, and there are a number of health and safety violations that must be addressed within 90 days of notice – August 30 – through either repair or demolition. According to his attorney, the owner has said he will demolish the building. The building is for sale, and the owner will consider offers.

Discussion centered around the possibility of purchase, perhaps keeping the front 50’ of the building, and either demolishing or stabilizing the rear of the building. It is unlikely that the project would be financially viable as a usual development project, so it would need financial support from outside sources to make up the difference between cost of stabilization/ treatment and market price. Even the demolition portion of a project would be expensive. Unless someone finances the project out of the goodness of their hearts, it would require grants or other types of financing, and probably participation by other organizations besides the City.

But the upshot is that something needs to happen – and happen quickly. And it became apparent that the effort should be coordinated at a single point to be sure everyone is up to speed on what everyone is doing. (But we would not look unkindly on someone who didn’t let us know before he or she showed up to buy the building and return it to its former glory.)

Jackie Powell took on the task of contacting Colorado Preservation, Inc., which has as one of its goals to save endangered places. They have helped with preservation of the Hutchinson Homestead, for example. Only recently they have been involved in three major projects – Hayden Ranch near Leadville (now a campus for the CMC Historic Preservation Program), Hangar 61 at Stapleton (which is to become a church), and the Mathews-Gotthelf Mansion Rehabilitation in Curtis Park.

Pat Eidman is the Endangered Places coordinator at CPI. He suggested that he and their project manager, Jane Daniels, visit the site during the week of May 24, and potentially hold a public meeting to allow the entire community to come together to discuss potential solutions. Jackie is waiting to hear back from Pat.

There is now an email account – savetheunique@yahoo.com – that we will use for “command central” for this effort. We can use it for announcing meetings, events, etc. Once an approach has been identified, we will be able to share information about the progress on saving the Unique.

This is the kind of thing Historic Salida, Inc., was organized to do. Go to our website at historicsalida.org to learn more about the organization and how to join. We need your membership and your participation, especially now!

Earle Kittleman, President
Historic Salida, Inc.