STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO-December 4, 2019- Most people don’t know they are being provided a history lesson every time they walk down Lincoln Avenue in the downtown area. But that’s exactly the thought behind the new street sign toppers adorning several street signs along Lincoln Avenue.
The City of Steamboat Springs, in partnership with Main Street Steamboat, the Historic Preservation Commission and Historic Routt County, unveiled custom street toppers identifying the historic downtown district. The sign toppers run along Lincoln Avenue from 5th to 11th Streets. Additional signs may be installed on other streets within the district in future years.
“There is so much history along the downtown corridor,” commented Arianthe Stettner, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. “The toppers are intended to raise awareness of the unique characteristics of the historic district and allow visitors to easily identify this important area.”
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains a significant concentration of older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.
The Steamboat Springs Downtown Historic District, the center of the business district of the original town site established in 1884, is locally significant for its long association of providing residents of the city and the surrounding areas with goods and services for over a century. The buildings within the district reflect the development of the community and its growth and transformation into Yampa Valley's regional hub.
The district comprises approximately six city blocks, which has a total of fifty-two resources, thirty-six of which are considered contributing. Three buildings are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Approximately forty percent of buildings within the district were constructed during the decade of the train's arrival in anticipation of growth (1900-1909) or in the decade immediately following (1910-1920).
“These signs will foster community pride, cultivate an awareness for the importance of the downtown area, and serve as a gentle reminder of the significance of the historic downtown district,” signaled Lisa Popovich, Executive Director of Main Street Steamboat.
Main Street Steamboat received a grant from Yampa Valley Electric Associations’ Operation Round Up that paid for the materials. Operation Round Up allows customers to elect to have their electric bills rounded up to the next dollar with the extra cents put in a fund that awards grants. The city’s Streets Division in Public Works designed, fabricated and installed the sixteen signature street sign toppers.
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Contact
Rebecca Bessey, Planning Director, City of Steamboat Springs, 970.871.8202 or email
Arianthe Stettner, Chair, Historic Preservation Commission, 970.879.1986 or email
Lisa Popovich, Executive Director, Main Street Steamboat, 970.367.7060 or email