Fort Collins staff acknowledge demolition notice for 1617 Person Court; owner says will rebuild connected single-family home

The Fort Collins Historic Preservation Commission acknowledged a demolition notification for the single‑family residence at 1617 Person Court at its Aug. 20 meeting, and did not initiate landmark designation proceedings. The notice, required for properties more than 50 years old proposed for demolition, was presented by Johnny Jones, historic preservation planner for the City of Fort Collins, who described the house as a single‑story concrete‑block and masonry building constructed around 1947 with a two‑story garage addition built in 1995. Jones said the demolition notification process exists "to inform neighbors of a potential change coming to their neighborhood and also to provide an opportunity to identify potentially important historic architectural or cultural resources." The applicant, Carrie Kingery, spoke online and described the project's intent. "We're just looking forward to working on this property," Kingery said. She added the goal is to "make it a functional property" by demolishing the front portion of the house so the front and rear portions can be connected; currently the second‑floor access to the garage addition is only reachable by exterior stairs. Staff materials included a summary of known occupants and exterior permits, and a new set of demolition‑impact estimates (described by staff as preliminary) showing embodied energy, salvageable volume and salvageable value based on square footage. Jones noted there are no existing survey records or historic photos for the property and it does not appear on Sanborn maps. Commissioners were offered two options under the city's demolition‑notification process: acknowledge the notification with no further action, or move to initiate landmark designation over the property owner's objection. After no public comments and no commissioner questions, the commission chose to acknowledge the notification and proceed to the next agenda item. Because no eligible party initiated a landmark nomination during the meeting, Jones said any pending demolition permits could be issued the following day. Plans and next steps: The applicant indicated intent to replace the front portion and connect living spaces; specifics of the replacement building (design, materials, schedule) were not provided at the hearing and were described as forthcoming. Staff provided the owner‑supplied exterior photos and the demolition‑metric estimates as part of the record.