New & Upcoming Historic Surveys
The City of Fort Collins has some new survey projects moving ahead to help us better understand the important historic and architectural places that define the community. Here are some of our most recent projects:
- South College Avenue - the City's historic survey specialist completed this survey of nearly 200 properties along the city's main corridor between Mulberry Street and Horsetooth Road. Watch the project report to City Council.
- North College Avenue - the City has secured a State Historic Fund grant to survey College Avenue between Mulberry Street and Laporte Avenue. Results are expected by early 2023.
- Campus North Neighborhood - The City is using funding to survey select properties on on the 600 (south) blocks of Mason, Meldrum, Howes, and Sherwood and the 200, 300, and 400 blocks of (west) Laurel, Myrtle, and Mulberry Streets. Results are expected by early 2023.
- Mountain Avenue - the City's historic survey specialist completed this reconnaissance-level survey in 2020 of 48 properties along the commercial Mountain Avenue corridor from Howes Street and the Lincoln Avenue Bridge.
- Downtown West - the City's historic survey specialist completed this reconnaissance-level survey in 2020 of 176 properties on the westside of downtown in the original 1873 Avery Plat.
- Riverside Avenue - the City's historic survey specialist completed a reconnaissance-level survey in 2020 of properties along Jefferson Street/Riverside Avenue from Linden Street to Prospect Road.
What is Survey?#
What makes an historic place "historic?" It's not just how old it is, or if someone important lived there - there's a lot of ways that a place might be historic, and it usually requires a little digging through historical records to find out.
Survey is the process of documenting and researching specific areas or places in a community to determine what is important enough to save. As part of a survey, a particular property and/or area is photographed and mapped, and its history is thoroughly researched. That research includes the relative importance of the styles or types of buildings in that area, the connections the buildings and other resources in an area have to important events or trends in history, and the importance of specific people, groups of people, or ethnic groups to Fort Collins.
How are Survey Results Documented?#
Most survey projects result in the production of both a report and survey forms. The report documents how the surveyor completed the project (methods and techniques), the history of the area being surveyed (usually called an "historic context"), and the general recommendations about the area. A survey form includes documentation on a specific property or resource, like a building, structure, or site. Survey forms usually come in two types:
- Reconnaissance Level (or Recon) - these are short and fast, providing very basic information about a property but usually very little historical information beyond the year of first construction. These types of forms can also record whether a property is contributing or non-contributing to a larger historic district (in other words, that it does or does not reflect the important history or architecture of a larger historical area).
- Intensive Level - these are detailed forms that document as much historical information as possible on the property and fully evaluate whether it can be a City Landmark under any of the four criteria outlined in City Code. They require a significant amount of archival research about the property but are also the best to determine accurately whether a property is eligible for historic designation.
Survey Reports#
| Project | Year | # of Properties | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown West Area Survey | 2020 | 176 | City - Historic Survey Specialist |
| Mountain Avenue Downtown Survey | 2020 | 48 | City - Historic Survey Specialist |
| South College Avenue Corridor Survey | 2019 | 192 | City - Historic Survey Specialist |
| Loomis Addition Survey Report | 2017 | 282 | City - State Historic Fund Grant |
| Postwar E-X-P-A-N-D-S Survey (Mid-20th Century Development) | 2011 | 100 | City - State Historic Fund Grant |
| The Sugar Factory Neighborhoods: Buckingham, Andersonville, Alta Vista | 2004 | 175 | City - State Historic Fund Grant |
| In the Hallowed Halls of Learning: The History and Architecture of Poudre School District | 2004 | 34 | City - Certified Local Government Grant |
| Quonset Huts in the Fort Collins UGA | 2003 | 33 | City - Advance Planning Fund |
| Cultural Resources Inventory of the Old Fort Site | 2002 | 35 | City - Certified Local Government Grant |