Historic Colorado Spa Faces Destruction
Manitou Spa, Manitou Springs, Colo.
Credit: Michelle Anthony
June 10, 2003
Dear Preservation 911,
I am a resident of Manitou Springs, Colo., and I'm trying to help the owner of a National Register-listed building stop a demolition threat from the city. The building is the Historic Manitou Spa, built in 1920, which Colorado Preservation, Inc., listed in 2000 as one of "Colorado's Most Endangered Places."
The town cannot afford to compensate the owner under eminent domain since the Spanish revival building has appraisals of over $2 million, and we are a small community. Instead, town officials are threatening to demolish the structure as a nuisance (it has been derelict since 1999) and assess the cost of the demolition to the property. The owner only gained clear title to the property four months ago and has since addressed the issues of public safety, which originally prompted the order for demolition. He is aggressively marketing the building to redevelopers, but City Hall apparently believes the "blight" can be remedied more quickly by demolition than by encouraging redevelopment.
The owner has been told that he can forestall demolition for a year and try to sell the building during that time on one condition: that he remove it immediately from the National Register.
Is it really possible for a municipality in Colorado to demolish a building without acquiring the property, then tax the owner for the demolition costs? We expect terrorists to destroy buildings without just cause or compensation, but we don't expect it from our elected officials!
I am a member of a citizen's group that successfully defeated an attempt to amend our historic-preservation ordinance so that any property owner could opt out of the Historic District at will. But we're having a harder time with this issue since City Hall mostly listens to business owners who complain about the "blight" and don't welcome the competition that the building's retail spaces would provide.
Please help!
Sincerely,
David Beers
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