Woodland Park preservation panel to seek noncompetitive planning grant for Roberts House restoration

The Woodland Park Historic Preservation Commission agreed to pursue a noncompetitive planning grant to prepare detailed plans for restoring the Roberts House (sometimes called the Junction House) and to ask a preservation architect to lead the planning work.

Commissioners said the group originally applied for the wrong, competitive grant and received feedback from History Colorado and Saving Places that the project needs a clearer scope, floor plans and elevations before it could qualify for competitive funding. The planning grant is noncompetitive and can be submitted any time, commission members said; members discussed conflicting figures for the grant cap (speakers mentioned both $15,000 and $25,000) and said the award typically requires a local match (staff said a 10% match was mentioned in the meeting).

Why it matters: commissioners said the building contains asbestos and other hazards that must be assessed and abated before any rehabilitation. A successful planning grant would fund architectural preservation drawings, a structural assessment and a phased plan for asbestos abatement, securing the building and later restoration. The city already has a small budget line for asbestos work in the 2025 historic preservation budget.

Details and next steps Commission members said History Colorado told them that no member of the commission or staff may be the direct recipient of the grant funds; the state requires an outside architect or organization to be the awardee and to perform the funded work. Because of that restriction, the commission agreed it must hire an outside preservation architect to prepare the planning deliverables. Commissioners mentioned preservation architect Chuck Severance as a likely candidate given his experience and familiarity with History Colorado processes.

The commission reached consensus to contact Severance, ask him for guidance on the planning scope and cost estimate, and invite him to the next commission meeting to help shape the grant application and possible request for funds. Commission members emphasized the application itself can be submitted any time because the planning grant is noncompetitive; they also asked staff to double-check the maximum award amount and the local match requirement.

Commission guidance and logistics discussed included: - The planning work should include floor plans, existing and proposed elevations, a period-of-significance analysis for the building and photographs of contaminated or affected areas to “connect the dots” for reviewers. - Initial restoration likely must be phased: remove non-historic additions and abate asbestos as phase 1, then secure the building and consider subsequent restoration phases depending on funding. - Staff and commissioners noted the city’s 2025 budget contains an allocation (discussed in the meeting as about $11,900) for Junction House asbestos abatement that could be used as local match or for initial work while planning proceeds. - The commission will coordinate with the city facilities manager (identified in the meeting as Rob Phelps/Felts depending on records) before accessing the structure; members said they will not re-enter the building without an architect present.

Funding opportunities mentioned during the discussion included History Colorado planning grants, EPA Brownfields funding for hazardous-material testing and abatement, and Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) or state-level grants that may be available to cities that own historic properties. Commissioners also discussed legal liability: the owner of an unsafe structure typically carries liability for hazardous material until remediation is performed or a formal assessment process occurs.

What was decided The commission agreed by consensus to: 1) contact Chuck Severance to request a planning estimate and invite him to the next meeting; 2) have staff confirm the planning grant maximum and match requirement; and 3) continue preparing background material (period of significance, photographs, building history) so the commission and any hired architect can prepare a planning proposal and application. Staff also said they will check with the city facilities lead about safe access to the building and to request a small facility repair (a loose roof panel at the barn) as an immediate safety fix.

The commission did not take a formal vote but recorded these next steps as the group’s direction going forward.