Roger Baker, Gilpin County Manager. Gilpin County acquired the historic Belvidere Theater for unpaid back taxes in early June, and though it may not look from the outside like much has changed, it certainly has.
Last week the previous owner completed removing his personal property from the Theater—and there was a lot of it. The process was long, and occasionally disruptive—there were several semi-trailers full of property that were removed, and a number of smaller trailers that were filled with trash.
Obviously those trailers couldn’t be parked directly in front of the Belvidere without creating even greater parking (and driving!) problems, so the staff from GF Gaming—the folks who own the Famous Bonanza and Easy Street casinos, and have a lease to operate the Big-T parking lot just across the street—were kind enough to let the owner use the lot for staging and stuffing those big trucks. That was very generous of them, and everyone really appreciated it.
Although their cooperation made things possible, it still didn’t make it easy. The traffic impacts were still quite real, and it was very good of Central City officials—particularly Central City Manager Daniel Miera- to work with the County and the owner to come up with reasonable restrictions that allowed the work to continue but minimized the negative effects on the existing business community. We were also very grateful for the cooperation of the City’s public works staff and police officers, who both facilitated the process and watched over the results.
Finally, we really need to thank the County’s office supply provider, Office Stuff. They have long been supportive of the County and its activities in a number of ways (most notably as a major sponsor of the Gilpin County Fair), but by offering to empty the building in a professional manner, owners Connie and Rock Calloway gave us not only many valuable tips about what to expect (and demand!), but the reassurance that if this project fell apart, we could still get the work done in a timely fashion.
So now what? Well, the State Historical Grant process is moving forward; contracts have just been signed with the engineering/architectural firm that will do the historic structure assessment, and a kickoff meeting with the firm, state officials and other stakeholders will be scheduled soon. That process should tell us how much money it will require to get the building safe and secure, and hopefully into usable shape.
Usable for what though? That’s not the County’s concern, strictly speaking. There is a non-profit group that has been formed to raise money, and perhaps set some goals for what use they would like to see made of the old building. Given its prime location at the end of Main Street—and with plans on the horizon for additional utilization of the Big-T lot—this is obviously of great interest to the City of Central as well.
By great good fortune, the City now has on staff someone both generally familiar with historic architecture and familiar with the Belvidere in particular. Former County Planner and Historic Advisory Liaison Ray Rears has moved to a new job as Community Development Director for Central City; in fact, he started Monday. While he will certainly have many other pressing duties, his interest in the Belvidere—he did all the initial paperwork for the grants, for example—will doubtless continue to serve both City and County well.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball to see what the future holds for the Belvidere—its past use as a theater was relatively short-lived, but it has filled many other roles in the social life of Central City over the subsequent century.
Here’s hoping for an equally illustrious future…
By Barbara Hardt · Gilpin County Corner : The Belvidere Theater
http://themtnear.com/2015/11/gilpin-county-corner-the-belvidere-theater/
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