First Meeting is Jan 27 in Castle Rock 

The long-term process of gathering information and documenting Douglas County’s historic resources will begin with a public meeting on January 27, 2010 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room, 100 Third St., in Castle Rock.   

The meeting, hosted by the Douglas County Historic Preservation Board (HPB) and URS, Inc., the consultants for the project, will provide attendees with an overview of the process, including details about a county-wide historic context report and intensive survey of architectural properties. 

Douglas County was awarded a Historical Fund Grant from the State of Colorado to undertake this effort.  It is anticipated that this will be a two year project.  

The historic context report will provide the framework for the evaluation of historic properties in the County including: a general background history of the area; details on chronological development and historic patterns of geographic areas under consideration; discussion of the people, events and cultural values that led to the developments; and the requirements for a property to meet the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Twelve properties that represent the themes and property types identified in the Historic Context Report will be surveyed.  The survey will document information on a historic building such as its size, history, construction type and architectural style.  Selected properties will be representative of the industries that were in operation during the early development stages of Douglas County.  Gathering this information will help the HPB to effectively target additional cultural resource surveys to assist in the eventual development of a Douglas County Historic Preservation Plan. 

For more information or to ask questions regarding the kick-off meeting, please contact Historic Preservation Board Administrator Judy Hammer at 303-660-7460.