Castle Rock preservation board outlines Historic Preservation Month events, accepts minutes

The Town of Castle Rock Historic Preservation Board on March 5 discussed planned activities for Historic Preservation Month, including sidewalk posters and placemats, a townwide scavenger hunt and trolley tours, and accepted the minutes from its Feb. 5 meeting by roll call.

Brad Boland, town historic preservation staff, opened the item as a planning discussion: "this conversation is really just a discussion with the board about what we wanna do for HP month," and outlined outreach tools the town has used in previous years.

The board focused on repeatable promotion: sidewalk sandwich‑style posters in downtown, 11-by-17 posters for local businesses, placemats handed to restaurant patrons as a children’s activity, and QR codes linking to an online landing page listing HP Month events. Boland said last year’s combined spend on posters and sidewalk signs was “a little over $500” and recommended keeping promotional spending in the $400–$600 range for 2025. The board discussed placing additional sidewalk signs downtown, and using a banner that could be reused yearly if public‑works staff can manage the light-pole displays.

David Roe, Castle Rock Historical Society and Museum liaison, described museum plans for May: a monthlong scavenger hunt of historic buildings, trolley tours on May 3 and a Victoria’s Tea at Kirk Hall on May 17. Boland said the HP Month QR codes will point to a landing page that lists those events and that the communications team will coordinate calendar and social‑media outreach; the HP Month content also appears on the town calendar and in periodic newsletters such as Town Talk.

Board members discussed outreach to schools and youth. Several members supported an art activity for children tied to local historic places; Boland said school‑district curriculum planning typically happens over the summer, so a coordinated school program would likely be better planned for 2026. As an interim measure the board discussed revising the placemat artwork so children can draw on it and submit scans or photos for a gallery on the town website, pending communications‑team review for policy and accessibility requirements.

Other logistics discussed: participation in the Downtown Alliance spring kickoff concert on May 17 (the alliance previously waived the participation fee for town organizations); whether to place posters at Festival Park, the museum and the three‑level downtown parking garage; and whether to pay the Chamber of Commerce for promotional inclusion (board members said the chamber’s fee was several hundred dollars and may match the board’s budget, so staff recommended not pursuing the chamber pamphlet this year).

The board also heard a brief update that Town Council had recently approved an ordinance changing the design‑review process for the downtown: projects with more than 10,000 square feet of new building will be reviewed by the design review board with Town Council as the final decision maker; projects under 10,000 square feet will remain with the design review board. Board members noted that larger redevelopment projects already come before council for redevelopment agreements.

Nut graf: The board’s discussion centered on low‑cost, high‑visibility choices to promote historic preservation and to engage families and visitors in May. Staff recommended keeping promotional spending modest and finalizing participation and materials at the board’s April meeting so printed posters and sidewalk signs can be ready by mid‑April.

Votes at a glance: - Motion: Accept minutes of the Feb. 5, 2025 meeting as presented. Vote: approved by roll call (Thayer — Aye; Vazani — Aye; Arons — Aye; Warnke — Aye; Hanish — Aye; Chair Lang — Aye). Outcome: approved. - Motion: Adjourn meeting (Chair Lang). Second: Board member Susan (first name only in transcript). Vote: approved by roll call (same six members recorded as Aye). Outcome: approved.

Next steps: The board asked members to check availability for a May 17 table at the spring kickoff and to be prepared to approve any final poster art and placements at the April 2 meeting. Boland said he will meet with public‑works staff about banners and provide timing and cost details at the April meeting.