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Steelworks Center seeks National Park Service grant, outlines Bessemer programs and partnership with new mill owners
Summary
Steelworks Center of the West sought a National Park Service restoration grant of about $640,000 for its museum, described extensive CF&I archives and told council about local Bessemer town halls and coordination with new mill owners Rocky Mountain Steel/Orion Steel.
Christina Trujillo, executive director of the Steelworks Center of the West, told council the nonprofit preserves Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I) records and operates a museum and educational programs. Trujillo said the center applied for a National Park Service grant for just over $640,000 to pay for museum repairs — a new roof, windows and doors, stucco work, drainage fixes and soffit repair — that she projects could begin in 2026 if funded.
Trujillo described the center's archives as nationally significant, listing more than 100,000 digital images, thousands of cubic feet of company records, historic films and tens of thousands of maps and drawings. She said the center works with District 60 teachers to build curriculum tied to exhibits and noted genealogy and heritage tourism as growing interests. "We actually our main thing is our museum that was opened in 2007... We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency whose main mission is to preserve the site and the archival collection of the Colorado fuel and iron company," she said.
Trujillo also outlined community-facing work in the Bessemer neighborhood: monthly town halls that connect residents with police and with city services, distribution of 120 vouchers funded from local support to help residents remove debris, and outreach to repair stolen wiring at Ray Aguilera Park's ball field. She said Steelworks has met with new mill owners (referenced as Atlas/Orion and Rocky Mountain Steel/Orion Steel) and that the company has expressed interest in community collaboration; Trujillo said one property may be gifted back to the city and that the organization is coordinating introductions between owners, the mayor and council.
Trujillo framed museums as an economic and tourism asset and asked council to consider heritage tourism in broader economic planning; she said Pueblo's CF&I administration complex is a national historic landmark and that museum programming supports local school curricula.
