Leanne Goebel, l.goebel@pagosa.com | Posted 1/27/05

“We’re objective analysts,” said Dan Guimond of Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. Guimond and EPS Vice President, Andy Knudtsen held a scoping session at the Community Center with over 150 people crowded into the Senior Center dining room.
The Community Vision Council, working with the Town of Pagosa Springs, contracted with EPS to provide an economic impact study that will provide an economic base analysis, evaluate the fiscal condition and opportunities of the area, and recommend economic development alternatives. Parelli Natural Horsemanship provided a $40,000 donation to fund the study. Guimond and Knutdsen spent the day meeting with stakeholder groups such as the lodging association and the downtown business owners.

“We want to hear what you have to say,” Knudtsen said, expressing the desire of EPS for the study to be inclusive. They were quick to point out that the preliminary information presented to the crowd was just the beginning. “We haven’t scratched the surface yet,” Knudtsen said.

What they know so far is this: The population of Archuleta County is 11,196 and since 86% of the population is outside the Town of Pagosa Springs, we have a great need for a high-level of coordination between the Town and the County. “If the Town implements a plan that is not mirrored in the County it cannot have impact,” Knudtsen said.

Thirty percent of residents are second homeowners. The state projects an increase in older residents over the next 25 years. At a previous CVC meeting, Town Manager, Mark Garcia, had pointed out a recent request to build 250 new housing units in the Town of Pagosa Springs. That alone would represent a 37% growth in the Town population. “If we do nothing to encourage or discourage growth, County population is predicted to reach 30,000 by the year 2020,” said Angela Atkinson, Executive Director of the CVC. “Growth is neither good nor bad. It is. It’s how we manage it that matters.”

Knudsten pointed out that the average annual growth in the County of 7.6% between 1991 and 2000 was “very strong.”
The wholesale/retail trade and service sector provide nearly one quarter of all jobs in the County. Real Estate and Construction are second. The average per capita income in Archuleta County is $19,021, the lowest in the five county region that includes: Dolores, San Juan, Montezuma and La Plata Counties. The average per capita income for the state of Colorado is $30,000.

Knudtsen and Guimond pointed out that the growth in Archuleta County and Pagosa Springs, on a percentage basis, exceeds the growth in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. “There’s a greater opportunity for growth within Pagosa Springs than you’ve seen over the past 18 years,” Knudtsen said. He and Guimond agreed that there was more opportunity for growth here than in most other counties or towns on the Western Slope.

EPS will look at existing retail sales, sales tax, dollar inflow and outflow to determine what type of retail is supportable in this community. Part of that will involve detailed exploration of the pros and cons of big box development. EPS has worked with Bozeman, Montana and Carbondale, Colorado on the big box issue and pointed out that many communities do not have the luxury of saying no. If they say no, the big box will go outside the town limits or in the next town in the county. “Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County are in sync on this issue, that’s a big advantage,” Guimond said. An audience member pointed out the possibility for big box development to occur on Southern Ute Tribal land at the intersection highways 160 and 151. The Southern Ute tribe is a client of EPS and Knudtsen and Guimond agreed that this was a viable issue to consider.

EPS will also track tourism trends and document conditions and evaluate recreation and other business sectors for impact. However, more significantly, the EPS study will fiscally evaluate the Town budget. EPS will identify key fiscal relationships; analyze the impacts from growth on the Town’s fiscal condition. They will evaluate the role of retail within the fiscal framework and make suggestions for how Pagosa Springs can best manage growth.

“The Town has to balance possible revenues with the kind of services, amenities and infrastructure desired,” Knudtsen said. One goal of the economic analysis is to determine what kind of revenue the Town and County need to service growth.
“There are ways to fund growth and capital needs, such as impact fees and special assessments to help allocate the costs of new growth,” Guimond said. “This study will frame alternatives for consideration as you move forward with other community planning processes.”

EPS distributed a handout to each community member present with four questions to answer. First, describe a success story in Pagosa Springs from the recent past. Second, what are the top three economic issues facing Pagosa Springs? Third, what type of commercial growth best reflects the community character you would like to see? Fourth, what public improvements or services would you like to see to prepare for that growth?

Success Stories:

Community members identified everything from the paving of downtown streets to the generosity of local businesses as success stories. Some key items included the Four Corners Folk Festival and Music in the Mountains; the clean up of the old sawmill property, the building of Town Hall and the Community Center, and Parelli Natural Horsemanship as a successful business. Several people commented that feeling safe on the streets and children being able to walk around downtown and go to the movie theatre, study biology in the river and take school ski trips were success stories.

Economic Issue:

These issues were more complex and included growth and development, wages, infrastructure and travel. The Town and County need a plan to attract and develop small businesses and reduce the churn factor, one person said. The breadth and depth of the labor pool is insufficient, another added. A concern that with growth and development there are greater service requirements and taxes go up. Do we have to pay or does new development pay? County residents cannot vote on issues facing the Town. The County and the Town have to find a way for greater representation, someone else added. The need for specialty services for the older population, i.e., someone to do odd jobs and shovel snow. Someone expressed the need for commercial travel facilities. Another resident was concerned about the broadband infrastructure for consultants and those who work from home. Also mentioned were zoning, parking, and the use of local construction companies in local development. One idea suggested was to explore a regional government between the five counties in the area to share costs, like the Regional Transportation District in Denver.

Commercial Growth:

Many ideas were generated about the type of growth the community wants to see. Small, locally owned businesses, more places for fun and entertainment, a small convention facility, a performing or cultural arts center, educational training, light industry, specialized healthcare. Some specific ideas included hosting an artist’s or photographer’s weekend at a local bed & breakfast, an Outward Bound school, a tortilla factory, a farmer’s market, a college or extended studies program, a research and development laboratory, a new county dump.

Someone suggested that commercial growth should be born out of community need, rather than designed as a revenue source. And Pierre Mion suggested that we should support local businesses and commercial establishments, rather than reject them summarily. “Why is there an urgency to evict one of the best auto repair shops in town?” Mion asked in reference to Joy Automotive.

“We need to have a cultural training program and teach people
who come here to respect our local culture,” one woman added.

Public Improvements:

One community member said she would prefer to have our town stay a little, mountain town. The only improvements she wanted to see were repairs to buildings in disrepair. Better road maintenance and snow removal were mentioned often, as was traffic management and the speed of traffic through downtown. Cate Smock expressed concern about safety and economics. “I can’t cross the street with my eight-year-old,” the downtown resident said.

“If people can jaywalk, businesses thrive,” Knudtsen acknowledged. Guimond added that the signs down the middle of Main Street in Durango were successful in helping mitigate the speed of traffic and pedestrian safety. Someone else suggested the possibility of a truck bypass.

A 20-year resident pointed out that we have two communities, a “264-prefix” community, and a “731-prefix” community, and that we should combine the Town and County government into one governmental agency.

Mary Jo Coulehan expressed concern for the utility companies to keep up with the growth, and several people mentioned the need for more water. Additionally, the need for expanded postal facilities and a bigger library came up. More efficient cell phone service and better telecommunication infrastructure came up again. “Social services and court services are under pressure and need to be dealt with in the economic plan,” a man in the front row said.

Richard Goebel suggested we needed a plan for flood control and someone else wanted to see expansion of the biking trails. It was recommended that we use Reservoir Hill to its fullest potential.

“We need new facilities for the elementary school, junior high and intermediate school,” student Leah Silver said. “It’s hard to study when water is dropping on your head.”

Leanne Goebel, l.goebel@pagosa.com | Posted 1/14/05

Preserving open space, wildlife habitats, and the family ranching way of life without putting the land in the hands of a government agency — this is one appeal for creating a conservation easement with a non-profit land trust such as the Southwest Land Alliance (SLA)

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values. It allows the landowner to continue to own and use the land and to sell it or pass it on to heirs.

There are numerous land trusts and agencies available to help a landowner create a conservation easement. Some of the more well known are The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. But while these large, nationally known organizations are focused on targeted purchasing of critical property, such as the I-25 corridor between Denver and Colorado Springs, our local land alliance is not actively pursuing property for purchase, at this time. The more than 12,000 acres on 33 easements held by the SLA have all been donated to the alliance.

“We’re not here to help development occur and we’re not here to stop it, we’re here to protect land that has conservation value,” said Linda Newberry, executive director of SLA. “We have to be really careful what easements we are willing to accept. We’re not willing to accept anything that walks in the door. The land has to meet certain requirements,” Newberry continued.
According the conservation purpose test described in 1980 in Section 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, in order to qualify for tax benefits for donating a conservation easement, the easement must be created for one of the following reasons: 1) To provide for the scenic enjoyment of the general public, or be part of clearly defined government conservation policy and yield significant public benefit; 2) To protect the relatively natural habitat for fish, wildlife, and plants; 3) To preserve an historically important land area or a certified historic structure; or 4) To preserve the land for outdoor recreation.

The benefit to the landowner is that the land they love and value is protected in perpetuity from future development, a benefit that some land rights and property rights advocates criticize. They believe that heirs and future owners should have a right to decide how to use the land. Some landowners may fear what their heirs or a future owner will do to the land and a conservation easement is a way to protect the land from future development.

Other benefits include tax breaks. The assessed value of land in conservation easement is much lower than development value. The reduced value can then be taken as a charitable deduction on taxes. Colorado has a special tax credit exchange program available. This program is very helpful for land wealthy, cash poor ranching families. Say for example that the land a rancher decides to put into a conservation easement is valued at $500,000. The rancher would get a $260,000 tax credit that they can spread over twenty years, taking $13,000 a year. But what if they don’t make enough money to benefit from that $13,000 tax credit? Colorado allows special tax credit brokers to sell that tax credit for up to 85% of its value. The rancher can sell his credit for approximately $220,000.

The most important benefit of having a conservation easement seems to involve estate taxes. Federal estate taxes can be as high as 50% of the fair market value of the land. Because an easement lowers the appraised value of the land, the estate taxes are lower.

“Some estate taxes are as much as forty percent lower because of the reduced value of the land,” Newberry said.

The Town of Pagosa Springs completed Draft Resolution (2004-15) opposing the Mineral County approval of the Village at Wolf Creek at a special meeting of the Council on November 9. “The resolution has not been filed, but the Town has sent comments to the Forest Service on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement,” Mark Garcia, Town Manager, said.

Village developer, Bob Honts, requested that the town wait on the draft resolution. “He asked us to please hear him out before we make a resolution,” Mayor Ross Aragon stated. “We want to be fair,” Aragon continued.

Honts declined an invitation to attend a Town Council meeting. According to Aragon, Honts doesn’t want the meeting to be public. “He said he [Honts] didn’t want it to be a three-ring circus,” Aragon said. In deference to meeting with Town Council, Honts requested a meeting with the Community Vision Council. “Honts said he would meet with the CVC, then with the Town Council,” Aragon said.

A meeting between Honts and the CVC scheduled for December 6 was cancelled because David J. Brown, CVC co-chair, will be out-of-town. Aragon attempted to reschedule the meeting on December 10, but according to Aragon, Honts will be in Denver that day. New alternatives proposed by the CVC for the meeting include three dates during the week of December 13-17.

“I regret that I couldn’t meet with them on Monday. I was ready to be there,” Honts said in a telephone conversation. “It’s a long trip for me. It takes sixteen hours to get there.”

When asked if he would be willing to be interviewed by the Daily Post, Honts said: “We are under an agreed court order not to do press statements. I can talk to you about Texas, but I can’t talk to you about our litigation with the ski area.”

According to Aragon, Honts requested the opportunity to make a presentation to the CVC on the proposed Village. “[Honts] asked us to submit any questions [CVC] had to him in advance of the meeting,” Aragon said. In a fax Aragon received on Thursday, December 2, Honts said he was still waiting on the questions. “Mark Garcia and Tamra Allen, Town Planner, are preparing those questions for submission to Honts,” Aragon said.

“I have to clear all questions with my attorneys,” Honts said. “We will have to wait and see when we get this thing rescheduled if that court order still applies.”

“I think it has to be an open meeting,” Garcia said of the developer’s desire to meet with the CVC. Angela Atkinson, Executive Director of CVC confirmed that CVC requested the meeting be open to the press.

Colorado Sunshine Law

Colorado Sunshine Law applies to “all boards, committees, commissions, authorities or other advisory, policy-making, rule-making or other formally constituted bodies and any public or private entity which has been delegated a governmental decision-making function by a body or official,” as stated in Law (24-6-401+)

Local governing bodies are required to keep open any gathering of three or more members, convened to discuss public business, in person, by telephone, or other means of communication. An executive session is permitted only during a regular or special meeting. A local public body can go into executive session only after two-thirds of the quorum present vote in favor of executive session. The reason for the session must be announced in public prior to closing the doors. A board cannot adopt any proposed policy, position, resolution, rule, regulation or take any formal action in an executive session.

Draft Resolution 2004-15

Draft Resolution 2004-15 of the Town Council, Town of Pagosa Springs, officially states the Town’s opposition to the Mineral County approval of the Village at Wolf Creek project. The Town Council understands they have no jurisdiction over the development proposed at the Village, but they have sought to participate in the public process associated with the development due to the imminent impact on the Town. “A Letter from the Town was sent to Mineral County prior to approval of the Village development,” Garcia said.

In the Draft Resolution, the Town Council and staff request, “that a comprehensive fiscal economic impact analysis be completed for the development so that direct impacts imposed on adjoining communities are identified.” According to the document, provided by Garcia, the impacts of the Village are not adequately addressed for the Region of Influence (ROI) and specifically Pagosa Springs. The Town highlights two socioeconomic impacts not addressed in the EIS: Impact to the local economic tax base resulting from potential decline of business in the lodging, dining and retail sectors due to development of the Village; and impact on associated transit elements, such as ground and air transportation to and from the development for employees and visitors.

Additionally, in the Resolution, the Town recommends a Regional Task Force be formed and an Inter-Governmental Agreement be executed with Mineral County and all affected agencies. The Town acknowledges that required permits from the U.S. National Forest, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Colorado Department of Transportation were not required prior to approval of the development by Mineral County.

“We are doing our best to build the premier mountain recreation village in the country, if not the world, and that’s what we are going to do,” Honts said.

“Therefore, be it resolved by the Town Council of the Town of Pagosa Springs that until our stated concerns are satisfied, we cannot endorse the Village at Wolf Creek, as approved by the Mineral County Commissioners in Resolution No. 2004-23.”

Mayor Ross Aragon called the meeting to order. Stan Holt made the motion, Tony Simmons seconded, and the Town Council voted unanimously to approve Resolution 2004 -15, opposing the Village at Wolf Creek. The applause from the dozen or more supporters of the resolution clapped and cheered for a minute or more. Elapsed time: about three minutes.

The Pagosa Springs Town Council convened at 12 noon Tuesday for a special work session, with the specific intention of dealing with the Village resolution, which had already been discussed at previous Council meetings but had not yet been passed. With the deadline for public comment on the Village’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement fast approaching, the Council apparently decided that a swift action was appropriate.

Students For Change, a group of politically active Pagosa Springs high school students including Randi Anderson, Jesse Morris, Michael Spitler, Tim McAlister, and Cela White, which had requested this special session at the regular Town Council meeting on Dec. 6, appeared especially gratified by the Council’s action.

The approved resolution acknowledges that the Home Rule Charter of Pagosa Springs is “intended to safeguard the well-being of all inhabitants of the Town and to maintain a community that sustains livability and places the highest value on the good of the entire community, and sets forth a framework for the future growth and development of the Town while protecting its unique identity and future economic vitality.” The resolution acknowledges that many challenges and issues associated with growth are prevalent in adjoining communities and suggests working together to ensure that each unique community is developed with the utmost care, diligence and respect for citizens, visitors and the environment.

The resolution specifically addresses some of the socioeconomic impacts identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and points to areas that the Council felt were not addressed fully. These include:

* The impact on available work force within the Region of Influence (ROI) and the need for additional outside workers resulting in an increased population.

* The impact on affordable housing availability within the ROI for additional workers of the development and need for more long and short-term housing overall.

* The impact on the Pagosa Springs School District from increased student population, caused by an increase in the workforce, which will result in the need for more teachers and space.

* The impact to public sector agencies such as fire, police, hospital and emergency services within the ROI and outside of the Village.

* The impact to the local economic tax base resulting from potential decline of business in the lodging, dining and retail sectors due to development of the Village.

* The impact on associated transit elements, such as ground and air transportation to and from the development for employees and visitors.

Last fall, C.J. “Jerry” Hannah suggested that we start a “salon” to build a creative community in Pagosa. “We need to bring people together: artists, writers, patrons,” he said. I agreed. So we invited everyone we knew to gather at the home of Jerry and his wife Jo.

I love Jerry and Jo’s house. It’s like a museum, filled with Native American art, Aboriginal art, masks, sculptures, books, and Jerry’s intrepid photographs. Jo is the consummate host. The food is always gourmet from hors d’oeuvres to dessert and Jerry is willing to uncork his latest discovery, a great bottle of wine priced under $10.

That first gathering, close to thirty people attended. Shaun Martin showed slides of his paintings and discussed his transformation from realism to abstraction. Jerry read a prose poem and the dialogue included playwrights, painters, ceramic artists, photographers, writers, performers and art lovers. And after a flattering (or unflattering) comparison to Gertrude Stein, I left wondering which of our new community members would become Pagosa’s Hemingway, Matisse, Picasso.

The salon met again in November and then skipped December and January. We gathered for the first time in 2005 on February 13 at Higher Grounds. This time we came together to define what is community and what it meant for each individual in attendance.
A community is cooperation, support given and received, a place to exchange ideas, a network, a group that shares common customs and interests. We decided that our salon should have a direction, be dynamic and evolving—A place where we touch each other.
Specifically we discussed sharing knowledge or bringing in experts to help with the business of art, from photographing one’s work to marketing and portfolio creation, to framing, insurance and website development.

We also decided we wanted the salon not to be an end destination, but instead a continual process and a place of education. We want to focus on the journey. We want to share and explore our creative energy.

Several great ideas came out of our last meeting and we look forward to bringing some of them to fruition. We invite all cultural creatives to join us for our next salon and artist’s roundtable, March 20 1-4 p.m. at Shy Rabbit Studio, 333 Bastille Drive, Unit B-1. We are also looking for artists, musicians, writers and others interested in showing, performing or sharing their work at these gatherings. We envision each salon to have three parts: first a presentation of announcements, vision and needs from all present; second a discussion or presentation from a professional; third an open mic or salon portion where artists present or perform.

For more information contact Leanne at l.goebel@pagosa.com or email Denise Coffee at dmcarts2u@aol.com.

A $50,000 grant from the Daniels Fund for Seeds of Learning might be lost.

The grant, awarded in February 2004 to help finance the construction of a new child and family care center, is a matching grant. Seeds of Learning will get $50,000 when they have raised $50,000 in matching funds from local businesses, organizations and individuals. Matching funds cannot come from other grant funds, foundation gifts or in-kind donations. To date, Seeds of Learning has raised only $10,000.

“We didn’t realize it was a matching grant until six months after it was awarded,” said Lynne Bridges, executive director for Seeds of Learning. The organization has had to jumpstart their capital campaign and put it on a fast track for completion. The matching funds must be in the bank by the end of January 2005.

Low-income children on waiting list

Bridges and Susan Thorpe designed the new building with Santa Fe architect Elbert Moore. It will cost nearly $600,000 to build. The Town of Pagosa Springs donated the land, at Seventh and Apache Streets. Childcare capacity in the new building will immediately go from the current 20-student limit to 30 students.

The ten additional students will come from the 26 at-risk, low-income families currently on the preschool waiting list. Seeds of Learning, works with Social Services who screens and determines eligibility and appropriate parental fees for ten children currently enrolled at the school. With a new building, they will be able to accommodate twenty preschoolers. Those fees range from $6 to $90 a month depending upon income and the number of dependents in a family. Regular daily rates are $23 for preschool and $24 for toddler care.

“This is an important step for us in order to get our NAEYC [National Association for the Education of Young Children] accreditation,” Bridges said. “We have the program, the staff and the administration requirements already met, but we can’t be accredited until we have a new building.”

For almost 80 years, the mission of the NAEYC has been to promote excellence in early childhood education and to raise the quality of programs for all children from birth through age eight. A major part of NAEYC’s efforts to improve early childhood education is through different systems of accreditation for programs that are committed to meeting national standards of quality. Currently there are more than 9,000 NAEYC-accredited programs, serving more than 800,000 children and their families. Since the system began in 1985, NAEYC accreditation has provided a powerful tool through which early childhood professionals, families, and others concerned about the quality of early childhood education can evaluate programs, compare them with professional standards, strengthen programs, and commit to ongoing evaluation and improvement.

The only NAEYC accredited childcare programs within a 100-mile radius of Pagosa Springs are the Head Start Programs in El Rito and Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico.

A new facility will allow Seeds of Learning to raise the bar on their already high quality program. The new 900 square foot preschool classroom will have a woodworking station and additional centers. Two multipurpose rooms, each larger than 500 square feet, will provide room for tumbling, napping and indoor activities during inclement weather. The new facility will have office space, a staff lounge, kitchen, conference room and plenty of storage.

When they move into the new location, Seeds of Learning hopes to offer an after school program which will qualify them to become a family center. A family center offers services to the entire family, not just the children, including screening, tests, counseling and immunization clinics.

“A family center takes care of the entire family,” Bridges said. “All of this is in place; except our family counselor is not in-house. The only thing missing is the after school program.”

The Temple Hoyne Buelle Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation have already contacted Seeds of Learning and will provide additional grant money when they have raised 50% and 70% respectively, of the cost to build the new building. Meaning, if they can raise $300,000 the rest will most likely be provided by foundation funds.

According to Bridges, they have identified a couple of private donors locally who have guaranteed they will contribute by the middle of January, but have not said how much they can afford to give. Seeds of Learning will be making presentation to the Chamber of Commerce Board, the Kiwanis, and other local entities like the Board of Realtors and the Ministerial Alliance.

“We have a lot of things in the works and perhaps they may happen before Christmas,” Bridges said. “I think if we call them [The Daniels Fund] in the middle of January and ask for an extension, they might work with us, but we are hoping and praying we don’t have to do that.”

Seeds of Learning was established in 1998 by Teddy Finney, Terry Alley and Erlinda Gonzalez as a childcare center for infants of unwed mothers. Originally housed at the Methodist Church, the program gradually grew and they moved into their current location on San Juan Street in 1999. Today, Seeds of Learning has ten toddlers and ten preschoolers enrolled in their program. They employ six early childhood teachers and are open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5:15 p.m.
Contact Lynn Bridges, Executive Director at 264-5513
or email seedsoflearning@msn.com.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents to a recent community survey want to see a conference and performing arts center in Pagosa Springs; and 38% of those want to see it located downtown. Fifty-five percent want to see public displays of art and 46% of those want to see the art downtown.

Yet, at the public CVC meeting on January 17, I sat in a session entitled Schools/Arts/Culture and we never had a chance to discuss the arts and culture. I’m not saying that art and culture are more important than the schools, don’t get me wrong. But I believe the arts and culture are very important to this community.

The glaring question for me is this—where is the vision for art and culture in the long-term future of our community? CVC members say they want to see public displays of art throughout downtown, but what about a cultural center? If it isn’t written into the plan with some idea toward how to fund the vision, doesn’t it mean that it’s much less likely that the idea will not be implemented?

The visionaries leading our town and our CVC are missing a key element to the economic stability of Pagosa Springs. Yes, this is a sales tax town dependent upon tourist dollars. But what do tourists want when they are on vacation? To sit in the hot springs? To get a massage? To go skiing? To take a hike? To fish or hunt? What else?

According to American for the Arts, 65% of American adult travelers include a cultural, arts, heritage, or historic activity in their vacation. Meaning they will visit Mesa Verde or ride the train from Durango to Silverton (43%). Or they might visit a museum (30%). We have two museums—a history museum and a cultural museum. Our tourist-based economy should embrace Fred Harman and his vision for a Western Heritage museum. Why not promote Fred Harman on one of those glitzy Madison Avenue posters: Real Town, Unreal Lifestyle. Just ask Red Ryder and Little Beaver.

Mayor Aragon told me he is frustrated because people drive through Pagosa on the way to ride the train in Durango or visit Mesa Verde. We don’t have a train. What does our town do to get them to stop? If tourists will drive more than 40 miles off a main highway to visit Creede, Colorado, population 377, why can’t we get them to stop in Pagosa?

Creede Repertory Theatre entertains thousands of audience members every year with professional play productions.

Photo courtesy Leanne Goebel

What draws visitors from all over the world to Creede? A world-class repertory theatre seeded with less than $200 by the local Jaycees in 1966, and started by Steve Grossman and a dozen theatre students from the University of Kansas: The Creede Repertory Theatre. In 2003 a record-breaking 17,500 tickets were sold to CRT events. That’s 45 times the population of Creede. To put it in perspective, for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to reach 45 times the population of the Denver metro area, they would need to sell close to 108 million tickets. CRT is a phenomenon. Additionally, CRT reaches 15,000-17,000 underprivileged children in school districts across the Four Corners region through their outreach theatre program.

In August 2004 the San Luis Valley Development Resources Group studied the economic impact of CRT on Mineral County and the surrounding trade area, which they defined as within a 100-mile radius of Creede. The bottom line? CRT pumps $2 million dollars into Mineral County, or 20 cents of every dollar spent. The amount increases to $2.8 million within the 100-mile radius.

I mentioned this to CVC co-chairmen Mayor Aragon and David Brown during a recent interview. “We’d be poor representatives if we said we have to address priorities. And the priority is a cultural center,” Mayor Aragon said. “We have to start with the economics. The economy. We have to build that. We have to make sure that the shop owners can stay open hopefully six, seven days a week in the future and if our marketing strategies are productive we’ll be able to do that in order for the town to prosper that’s what its going to take. And subsequently the cultural and performing arts will follow. It will follow.”

According to Dr. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, “This kind of thinking does not square with reality.” Florida’s research and other recent studies have shown that many people choose location first and then look for jobs in those locations. It is also obvious to Dr. Florida that the arts, culture, and demographic diversity can help spur job creation and economic revitalization. Artists typically look for affordable and inspiring locations.

Consider the history of Taos, New Mexico. In 1915 the Taos Society of Artist was formed by Bert Philips, Ernest Blumenschein, Oscar Berninghaus, Josepf Sharp, Irving Couse and Herbert Dunton. Blumenschein and Philips arrived in Taos in 1898 when their wagon wheel broke. They liked the town and so they stayed. Thus began a long history of art and culture that have shaped the community. In 1916, Mabel Dodge came to Taos and married a pueblo man Tony Luhan, they built a grand house, and she invited Willa Cather, D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, and John Marin to visit. Many remained in New Mexico. Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, O’Keeffe, Lawrence and others lived and created at the Mabel Dodge Luhan home.

Many people come to Pagosa Springs to be creative. They want to escape the city, and this place is beautiful and inspiring. Artists who are relocating to Pagosa Springs to pursue their artwork full time contact me all the time. As a community, we need to leverage this opportunity, and capitalize on the amazing talent and creativity of our residents.

According to Dr. Florida, 30% of the American workforce is part of what he calls the creative class—those engaged in science and engineering, research and development, technology-based industries, the arts, music, culture, aesthetic and design or in knowledge-based professions like health care, finance, and law. This sector accounts for nearly half of all wage and salary income in the U.S., as much as the manufacturing and service sectors combined.

The average visitor to Pagosa Springs is 50 years old, affluent and an empty nester—probably part of this creative class. Second homeowners account for nearly a quarter of all home sales in Archuleta County. These second homeowners are typically supportive of our art and culture, because as much as they love Pagosa, they miss the art, the music, the theatre back home in Denver, Dallas, or Phoenix. When I worked at the Pagosa Springs Arts Council, more than 1/3 of the membership was second homeowners. The largest patron donors were second homeowners. These people support our community. They can afford it. The rest of us are working two jobs to make ends meet.

David Brown told me: “These are preliminary ideas, these are concepts, these aren’t absolutes. One idea is that in the future, the Junior High and the Intermediate schools could become the location for a town plaza. It was thought that the [Intermediate School] could become a cultural arts center because it’s a great old building. To restore that and to make that whole section there across from the new town park as a gathering place for these types of event to occur. I think it’s vital to have the community input for people to say what you just said, we really want a performing arts center. I personally would love to have one here, the question is where should it go, how do we fund it? It’s not a matter of not wanting it.”

Well, now the whole schools/arts/culture session makes more sense in this light. I am all for relocating the Junior High. My son goes to school there. I substituted art class there. The building is run-down, leaking, unsafe. Chunks of ceiling panels frequently fall on the heads of children. Books and other materials are damaged from water. Let’s not forget asbestos and fire-safety. I’m not emotionally atta
ched to a building—especially an ugly building like the Junior High. I can envision the Intermediate school, completely gutted, and turned into a museum or gallery space. I like this idea. I think it makes sense.

We need to have a public dialogue about the arts and culture in Pagosa Springs. I’ve made enough noise to get to talk with representatives from the firm doing the economic impact study. I want arts and culture to be included. But the only way that can happen is if we work together — and this community has a history of not working together, of having this independent spirit and bravado where everyone does their own thing. How else do you explain two separate organizations working on two separate ideas for a cultural center? One group knew what the other was doing and chose not to participate, because they didn’t think they would actually accomplish anything.

The Four Corners Folk Festival, according to the Americans for Arts economic impact calculator provides an economic impact of $518,608 on this community. Our local governments receive $19,239 from this three-day event and the state gets $28,469. My hunch is that the Park-to-Park Arts and Crafts Fair and the two Fairfield Arts & Crafts Festivals provide similar economic impact. A smaller event like FoPA fund-raiser “Boom, Bust and Battle,” with a cast of local volunteer performers, provided $10,477 of economic impact with $457 to our local governments and $638 to the state.

Continued development of art and culture will only benefit our town. Art and culture appeal to visitors and second homeowners alike. Visitors stop in Pagosa for the Folk Festival. They spend money in our shops and restaurants and hotels. Why not build an amphitheatre in Town Park along the river? Why not encourage more fairs and festivals? Why not upgrade the gymnasium in the Community Center to include the room features of the original building design so it can be used as a theatre?

Consider this an open call to anyone who wants to see the arts and culture as a focal point of our economy and our community. I invite you to contact me at l.goebel@pagosa.com or call me at (970) 731-1841. It’s time to join forces. Let’s see what we can accomplish when we put our creative minds together.

Before the royal court arrived, Candy Flaming, Lady Chamberlain and the cast of wenches and serfs instructed the audience how to bow and curtsy. A tuck of the knee, a deep swooping bend, nose reaching toward the floor, prompted one guest at the Hampstead table to announce, “Help, I’ve curtsied and I can’t get up!”

Unfortunately, that was the most hilarious moment during Music Boosters’ Magical Madrigal Dinner. The madrigal tradition began in Italy and came to England in the 16th Century. Lords and Ladies entertained themselves by singing stories and playing music while they enjoyed dinner in the great halls of the landed gentry. A modern Madrigal Dinner is a re-enactment of a medieval or renaissance court, complete with pageantry, raucous humor, silly skits, poignant poetry, traditional food, and sacred and secular music sung by chamber singers. A typical Madrigal Dinner is scripted with actors performing as the royal court, knights, wenches and serfs, emphasizing madrigal singing — medieval poetry set to music with several voice parts skillfully combined melodically and rhythmically. Often performed at colleges and universities, madrigals are historically accurate, filled with masques and poems of the time. This version will be offered again next weekend for those who missed Friday and Saturday’s performances.

The Music Boosters production is a lavish affair. The costumes, designed by Michael DeWinter, are elegant, accurate representations of Renaissance England, particularly those of the King, Queen, Queen Mother, Archbishop, Lady Chamberlain, and the Court Jester. It’s too bad the same care was not taken on the serfs and wenches costumes. A few wenches wore full linen skirts, blouses and corsets, but many were in thrift store garb, which detracted from the otherwise historically accurate attire. It is clear that costuming was the focus for this event and thousands of hours of stitching and sewing and beading were donated by Linda Bennet, Winnie Pavlovich, Maggie Hart, Janie Bynum, Janet Nordman, Judy Ferguson, Barbara Trask, Maddie Banner, Betty Schwicker, Lindsay Morgan and Michael DeWinter. The costumes are brilliant.

The Community Center gymnasium became a grand hall. Four long tables representing Nottingham, York, Sussex and Hampstead, were clothed in yards of patchwork velvet, a dozen heavy gold candlesticks, and greenery. Each place set with a silver platter and two rose-colored plastic goblets. No utensils provided, to maintain authenticity. Above the tables hung courtly flags representing different principalities. The King and Queen sat in high backed chairs on an elevated platform, with tapestry and velvet hung behind them. However, I was hoping to see more tapestries on the long walls of the gymnasium. The set decoration didn’t go quite far enough to transport me back to the castles and country homes I visited throughout England and Scotland, the summer I studied at Trinity College, Oxford.

Music was the highlight of the evening. The madrigal singers, Randi Anderson, Chris Baum, Gena DeWinter, Matthew DeWinter, Jessica Espinosa, Amber Farnham, Candy Flaming, Kimberly Judd, Kim Legg, Tim McAlister, Jesse Morris, Christine Morrison, Jon Nash-Putnam, Jean Smith, Janna Voorhies, and Don Weller performed nearly flawlessly, a rough start on the “Wassail Song” the only glitch of the night. Strolling minstrels Jesse Morris and Chris Baum were delightful on guitar and violin, serenading young maidens.

But overall, the production lacked magic. Not magic tricks, those were performed well by Lady Karen Carpenter and her parrot Maya and Jester Dale Schwicker. But the magic of a story. The King and Queen had no name. It wasn’t the court of Henry VIII or Phillip II, King of Spain — as my alma matter the University of Texas, San Antonio recreates for their madrigal dinner, pitting the music, poetry and dance of Spain against that of England in 1592. No knighting ceremony as they correctly recreate at the University of California, Irvine. Even the program failed to say anything more than we were being transported back in time 600 years. There was no thread running through the production, no overarching tale to hold it all together.

The Royal court enters and there is a welcome by the King and then by the Queen, the Lady Chamberlain recites a slightly humorous poem on table manners. Guests are served wassail — warm, spiced apple cider. The Hunchback Chef, Michael DeWinter, arrives to announce in a slobbering slur that dinner is served. The Queen Mother complains she is not hungry. Vegetable Soup, mostly broth, is slurped from bowls or soaked into slightly tasteless rolls. The singing continues. A fake boar’s head is presented to the royals and the main course served: Roasted chicken thigh and leg quarters marinated in citrus, thyme and a vinegar-based sauce that the hunchback chef said is barbeque sauce, but the taste is sweet, not spicy or sour. The chicken is tasty, but slightly cool. Half a potato slathered in barbeque sauce (would taste better roasted with rosemary and no sticky sauce) and half a corncob, accompany the chicken.

The King calls for entertainment and Lady Karen performs magic tricks with her squawking parrot — which a member of the Hampstead table kept imitating, providing more humorous entertainment than the show itself. Then the Swineherd, played by Don Weller, tells a series of really bad chicken jokes, which the King condemns, ordering the death of the Swineherd. Lovely maiden, Matona, played by Veronica Zeiler, comes to his rescue and the Swineherd is ordered to a joust with the Black Knight, played by Tim McAlister.

Of course, the Swineherd wins the joust on his white paper mache horse, and he proceeds to recite a poem to Matona. Weller’s performance lacked passion and presence, and it was difficult to hear him, therefore much of the meaning of the poem was lost. Zeiler was expressive as the maiden, sporting a decent Cockney accent and she remained festively in character throughout the evening, while serving the meal and keeping the wassail flowing, providing humorous tidbits about the King.

Dessert is a flakey apple tart, served with more wassail and decaffeinated coffee. There is dancing, music, and more singing. Occasionally serfs and wenches run among the tables. The Archbishop keeps demanding more wassail, and before you know it the night is over and the royal court exits with as much pomp and circumstance as they entered. The only thing that kept the evening moving along was a wonderful performance by Candy Flaming as the Lady Chamberlain who kept everyone involved with lots of “huzzahs!” which the Hampstead table turned into a less appropriate “piss off!” That, and the beautiful renditions of madrigal songs and carols, including a group sing along of Good King Wenceslas (words provided on a scroll, thank goodness).

If you go, bring along friends (and it doesn’t hurt if the people you are sitting with have already enjoyed a couple of cocktails at the Office Lounge beforehand.) The doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the festivities begin at 7:30. Reserved tickets are required and may be purchased at the Plaid Pony (970-731-5262). Prices are $24 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $18 for students and children. There are still good seats available for the December 10 and 11 performances. And the fact that Music Boosters gives most of their proceeds back to the community in the form of scholarships and support for our local high school and junior high music and drama programs means the money is well spent — even if the production could use a little more magic.