Current Projects
Find out about our current projects below. You can also learn about our Past Projects.
Fort Morgan Survey Plan
A citywide historic survey plan is being prepared for the City of Fort Morgan, Colorado. The project will include a description of previous surveys and surveyed resources within the city, a historical overview of city development, a windshield survey, and recommendations for future survey tasks. The effort is funded by a Certified Local Government grant to the Town from History Colorado.
Buena Vista Westside Survey
Front Range is conducting a selective intensive survey of twenty-five mostly residential properties in Buena Vista, Colorado. The resources are located west of US 24, north and south of West Main Street. The above early twentieth century photograph shows one of the Pleasant Avenue dwellings included in the survey (photograph, Denver Public Library). The project is funded by a Certified Local Government grant to the Town from History Colorado.
First AME Church National Register Nomination
Front Range is preparing National Register and local landmark nominations for the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Bessemer neighborhood of Pueblo, Colorado. The church has served an African American congregation since its completion in 1915. The project is funded by a State Historical Fund grant.
Chaffee County Courthouse National Register Boundary Expansion and Additional Documentation
Front Range is preparing documentation to amend the existing 1979 National Register nomination for the former Chaffee County Courthouse in Buena Vista, Colorado. The original nomination described and discussed the courthouse (right), jail (left), and a 1930s rear gymnasium addition, but the legal description erred by only including the 1882 courthouse. The amended nomination will correct and expand the boundary to include the gymnasium, jail, and a maintenance building to the north, as well as providing fuller descriptions, expanded historical background, and additional areas of significance.
Hegner House National Register Nomination
Front Range has begun preparation of a National Register individual nomination for the Hegner House in Denver. Designed by Denver architect Casper F. Hegner, the 1935 dwelling has been described as the first International-style house in the Mile High City and perhaps the first in the state of Colorado. Hegner (1909-1991) designed the house for his own family.
McFadden Brothers Ranch Headquarters National Register Nomination, Buena Vista, Colorado Vicinity
Located on the historic McFadden Brothers ranch about nine miles north of Buena Vista, the east headquarters and associated agricultural fields will be nominated as a National Register historic district. The small headquarters complex includes a house, shed, root cellar, privy, and barn and is evaluated as significant for its Architecture and association with Agriculture. Dendrochronological testing will assist the project in dating the construction era of one log building.
Quebec 01 Launch Control Center/Missile Alert Facility NHL Nomination
Front Range is preparing a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Quebec 01 Launch Control Center/Missile Alert Facility (MAF) north of Cheyenne, Wyoming in Laramie County. The nationally significant Cold War facility was constructed in 1964 and initially controlled ten Minuteman I missiles in underground silos miles distant. The LCF later controlled Minuteman III missiles and is the only extant LCF associated with the Peacekeeper missile. Following decommissioning of the latter missile in 2005, Quebec 01 is now a Wyoming State Park. Front Range is preparing the nomination for the National Park Service and the State of Wyoming. The nomination was approved by the Landmarks Committee in May 2022. See visitor introduction video:
wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/news-updates-quebec01/1481-quebec-01-missile-alert-facility-introduction-video
wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/news-updates-quebec01/1481-quebec-01-missile-alert-facility-introduction-video
Wink's Panorama National Historic Landmark Nomination
In the 1920s-1930s, Obrey Wendell "Wink" Hamlet of Denver erected a mountain lodge and other facilities in Gilpin County, Colorado, as a haven for African Americans seeking a venue for rest and recreation in the era of segregation. Wink's Panorama was listed in Ebony magazine's vacation destinations in the 1950s and in the Green Book travel guide. Historic Winks Lodge LLC chose Front Range to prepare a National Historic Landmark nomination for the lodge and the associated Honeymoon Cabin. The project also included a number of oral history interviews with persons knowledgeable of the activities and operations of Winks Lodge. Marilyn Martorano of Martorano Consultants LLC collaborated on the project. The National Park Service provided funding for the nomination. The nomination was approved by the Landmarks Committee in October 2021 and now awaiting approval by the Advisory Committee and the Secretary of the Interior.
Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center NHL, Phase 2
Front Range has completed Phase 2 of a project to prepare a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center in Socorro, Texas. The center was operated by the US Department of Labor from 1951 to 1964 to house a program that brought Mexican farm laborers into the United States. The Rio Vista complex previously served as the El Paso County Poor Farm and in 1935-36 received nineteen adobe buildings built for the Texas Transient Bureau and the Works Projects Administration. Phase 1 included fieldwork and photography at the site, historical research, and oral history interviews. Phase 2 produced a completed NHL nomination. Professor Yolanda Leyva of the University of Texas El Paso assisted Front Range. The project was undertaken for the City of Socorro. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rio Vista a National Treasure in 2016. The nomination was approved by the Landmarks Committee in October 2021 and now awaiting approval by the Advisory Committee and the Secretary of the Interior.
