Dear Editor:
This is an open letter to Rio Blanco County residents and friends.
The Meeker Old West Heritage Cultural Center Committee and Task Force, in cooperation with the Rio Blanco County Historical Society and the Meeker Arts and Cultural Council are coordinating a task force effort to nominate the town of Meeker for designation as a national historic district by the United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service.
Such a designation requires that a certain concentration of such structures and sites be compiled and submitted as evidence of eligibility for consideration of an historic district nomination.
Accordingly, owners of eligible properties being considered for inclusion in the proposed historic district must consent to and endorse inclusion of their properties as a part of the historic district.
Meetings are planned whereby potential historic property owners may be contacted and informed of the eligibility of their respective properties for such designation.
The initial phase of this project is to submit an application for grant funding from History Colorado’s State Historical Fund grant program to engage the services of a professional consultant, who is qualified and experienced to implement the necessary documentation and research required to fulfill the task force objectives for designation as a national historic district.
A preliminary grant proposal is required for initial review in the very near future and the grant submission deadline will be for the Oct. 1 grant cycle.
The town of Meeker and Rio Blanco County County governments have been contacted concerning implementation of a formal process to officially designate named properties that may be eligible for state and national designation as part of a full process at the local, county, state and national levels, respectively.
In a spread sheet provided by the Rio Blanco County Assessor’s Office, note that there are approximately 155 residential structures in Meeker that were built prior to 1920.
Entries comport with structures identified by History Colorado as being eligible for designation as an historic place or have already been so designated.
Those not yet evaluated should be reviewed for possible eligibility.
Please feel free to share this communication with others you feel may be interested in the project. If you are interested in being a member of the Historic District Task Force, or if you have questions or comments, please email. You will be added to the list of task force members and receive future communications about this and other HCCC projects.
Bob Amick,
Chairman
National Historic District Task Force; Old West Heritage Culture Center Committee
