Montezuma Avenue is often billed by realtors as a historic district, but a new effort by the Cortez Historic Preservation Board is aiming to make it official.<\/p>\n
If approved by Cortez City Council, Montezuma Avenue would be the first official historic district in the city.<\/p>\n
The board is currently asking owners of registered historic property on the Avenue to decide on three different district boundary options, which all vary in how far east the designation would stretch.<\/p>\n
The western boundary in all options is N. Chestnut Street. The north and south boundaries are the alleys adjacent on Montezuma Avenue. There are three possibilities for the east boundary: the eastern boundary of the original townsite at 219 E. Montezuma; N. Washington Street; or N. Harrison Street.<\/p>\n
The first option requires that at least 22 of the 31 included property owners be on board with the plan. The second option, ending the eastern boundary district at the original townsite, requires 25 of the 36 included property owners to sign on. The third option, which extends the eastern boundary all the way to N. Harrison Street, requires that 37 of the 53 included property owners sign on.<\/p>\n
About a dozen Montezuma Avenue homeowners attended a Feb. 12 meeting on the district, held at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church. Most expressed that they were on board with the idea, though some were more skeptical about what the designation would mean for their property\u2019s resale value, tax rate or color choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody is going to tell you what color to paint your house, or what roof you can have,\u201d explained Linda Towle, chairman of the Historic Preservation Board. \u201cIt\u2019s an honorary designation only that builds around the existing median\u2019s designation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Platted in 1886, Montezuma Avenue\u2019s only official historic designation lies on the landscaped median. While many historic districts around the country are united by a common architectural theme, Montezuma Avenue uniquely qualifies for the designation because of the uniformity of the landscaping, said Jill Seyfarth, the city\u2019s historic preservation consultant.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong Montezuma, we have a range of architectural styles, so they (styles) aren\u2019t playing as big a role, but the thing it really has going is the landscape cohesiveness of the street,\u201d said Seyfarth. \u201cYou can really see the former intent of setting up the neighborhood. \u2026It was going to be the premier neighborhood of Cortez.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her research of Montezuma Avenue, Seyfarth recalled an old Durango Herald article that quoted the avenue\u2019s designer as saying it would make Cortez, \u201cthe Cleveland of the West.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c(The landscaping) really speaks to what the town was trying to be,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can still get that feeling when you walk down the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
Towle encouraged the meeting\u2019s attendees to engage their neighbors and talk with them about the boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely need more neighbors to sign up,\u201d said Towle.<\/p>\n
The Historic Preservation Board has set a deadline of April 30 to gather property owners\u2019 votes.<\/p>\n
For more information, call Historic Preservation chairman Linda Towle at 970-565-3987.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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