Blue Jay Inn Assessment

Location

Buffalo Creek, CO

Date of Construction

1880s

History

The Blue Jay Inn was constructed in the 1880s in Buffalo Creek as a boarding house for lumbermen. It became a lodge for tourists with the arrival of the railroad. In the early 1900s it became a retreat for girls. It was reopened as an inn and restaurant in 1947, and operated until the late 1990s.

Project Description

The current owner hopes that the inn can be reopened as a community gathering place. Colorado Preservation, Inc. is worked with the owner’s representatives to complete a Historic Structure Assessment and market analysis/reuse plan in 2006. Currently, the property is under rehabilitation.

Project Team

Financed in part through a grant from the State Historical Fund.

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Featured Project

Preservation for a Changing Colorado

Historic preservation has a direct economic benefit to communities and Colorado! Take a look at the 2017 study, which considered the ways adaption of historic places has a direct financial effect on the state.

This updated, most resent study, was the result of a partnership between Colorado Preservation, Inc and History Colorado, funded by a grant from History Colorado's State Historical Fund. Prepared by Clarion Associates, the new report document the economic benefits of rehabilitation projects, analyzes property values and neighborhood stability in local historic districts, and summarizes the increasing impact of heritage tourism, private preservation development and the success of Colorado’s Main Street program.

In a key finding, researchers determined that for every $1 million spent on historic preservation in Colorado it produced $1.03 million in additional spending, 14 new jobs, and $636,700 in increased household incomes across the state!

The 2017 report also considers the important role preservation plays in helping Coloradans provide new spaces for creative communities and co-working, create and sustain meaningful places, responds to the state’s changing demographics, and addresses climate concerns.

Click Here to see download and read the full report, "Preservation for a Changing Colorado".