balloting underway to decide funding for a series of historic preservation projects nationally

Located in Leadville, Colorado, the Tabor Opera House is an attractive three-story brick structure built in 1879.

Funded by Horace Tabor, one of the state’s early mining innovators, the building symbolizes for many an era when laborers of all races and ethnicities moved to work in Colorado’s teeming mines.  

Because of that symbolism, an effort to restore the opera house has been chosen as one of the twenty finalists projects qualifying for up to $2 million in preservation funding through the national Partners in Preservation Program.

That program is a part of the larger Main Street America effort, which is dedicated to revitalizing historic commercial districts in smaller cities and towns nationally.

Launched jointly by the National Trust for Preservation and the American Express Company, the Partners in Preservation Program is designed to not only keep intact historic buildings, but celebrate structures that represent America’s demographic diversity.

Also on the finalist’s list is the one-story former home of the Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Company in Nogales, built around 1920, which served as the epicenter of the city’s U.S./Mexico business trade.

Nogales officials want to both restore the structure and turn it into a collaborative and incubator space to launch small businesses.

In a statement, Richard Brown, the vice-president of philanthropy for American Express, lauded the Partners in Preservation Program, noting the company’s support of the overall effort to “celebrate the histories of the diverse communities and cultures that have shaped and continue to enrich our Main Streets.”

Voting on the finalists’ sites will continue until October 26, with the results expected to be announced on October 29.

By Garry Boulard

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