• November is Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month! Learn more about our local Native American heritage.
• In honor of Veterans Day, join Historic Larimer County for a tour of veterans monuments and war memorials in Larimer County on Nov. 8! Details and RSVP info can be found on the event site.
• A demolition notification active for 1513 N. College Ave. (K-Bar-D/Budget Host Motel), will be seen by the Historic Preservation Commission at their Nov. 19 meeting. This is a standalone demolition notice for the proposed demo of a commercial property with no development currently proposed. Additional information on demolition notification and the Landmark nomination process can be found in the Single-Unit Dwelling Demolition (SUDDN) Notices section below.

Are you a historic property owner?

Contact Historic Preservation Services (preservation@fcgov.com; 970-224-6078) to learn more about financial support programs for qualifying rehabilitation work and for information on required design review.

Last Month's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) Decisions

The October HPC meeting was canceled due to lack of business

City Council has appointed two new members, Jerry Gaveldon and Gretchen Farrell, to the Historic Preservation Commission. They will begin their service on the Commission at the November 12, 2025 HPC work session.

The City is always conducting new research into places that qualify as City Landmarks. Fort Collins' story is never over, so we're always collecting new stories about important places that may be historic one day. With nearly 15,000 properties in Fort Collins over fifty years of age, there's a lot of need to keep up with the research. Here are a few projects that are underway or recently completed thanks to our survey historian, Rebekah Schields, along with generous funding from the State Historical Fund:

• Completed: A survey of the downtown area along College Avenue between Laporte Avenue and Mulberry Street. This State Historical Fund-supported project identified several new places that qualify as Landmarks, and the potential for an expansion of the Old Town Historic District.
• Completed: A survey of the commercial buildings near the intersection of College Avenue and Laurel Street. This staff-completed project identified several new potential Landmarks, and a small Landmark District reflecting the 1950s-1970s transition of this area into the commercial zone we know it as today.
• In progress: A survey of the North College Avenue corridor, between Jefferson Street and the Larimer & Weld Canal. This area of Fort Collins has some of our community's best examples of roadside Modern architecture, and reminders of the booming days of highways and automobiles in the 1950s-1970s. Results are due in 2026.
• In progress: A survey of mid-20th century religious buildings throughout the Growth Management Area, built between the 1950s and 1970s. Results are due late in 2026.

Have questions or want to share information related to any of these projects? Reach out to us at preservation@fcgov.com!

Soapstone Natural Area and the Lindenmeier National Historic Landmark

In 2004, the City of Fort Collins purchased more than 20,000 acres of land north of town, near the Wyoming border. Now Soapstone Natural Area, this land supports thousands of acres of shortgrass prairie, the remains of historic homesteads, and the Lindenmeier Archaeological Site, a large prehistoric campsite more than 12,000 years old that is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

In 1924, amateur archaeologists Judge Claude Coffin, his son, Lynn Coffin and their friend C. K. Collins came upon some unusual fluted stone points while walking on the land of local rancher, William Lindenmeier. The Coffins invited to the site a professional archaeologist from the University of Denver who noted that the stone points looked similar to ones discovered near Folsom, New Mexico a few years earlier. In 1935, the Smithsonian sponsored an excavation at the site which helped to prove that humans had lived in North America since the Ice Age.  

About 12,000 years ago, a group of people camped along a stream near what is now the border between Wyoming and Colorado. Their campsite had excellent views to the south along the Front Range and to the east over the plains. While camping here, these ancient humans made tools and weapons, hunted and processed meat, gathered edible plants, cooked food, tanned leather, sewed and decorated clothes, and enjoyed each other’s company around the fire. It’s likely that generations of people camped on the site, returning year after year to the same location. The descendants of Indigenous people continue to live in our communities today.

Visitors to Soapstone Natural Area can view the Lindenmeier site, touch reproductions of uncovered artifacts, and may catch a glimpse of the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd. Descended from the Yellowstone National Park herd, the bison at Soapstone and Red Mountain Open Space were reintroduced in 2015 through a collaboration with the City of Fort Collins, Colorado State University, and Larimer County. Every spring, elders and spiritual leaders of local Indigenous tribes visit the natural area to bless the bison herd and their offspring.

A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure officially recognized by the United States government for outstanding historical significance. Only 3 percent of places listed on the National Register of Historic Places are also listed as National Historic Landmarks. The Lindenmeier site is one of only 29 NHLs in Colorado, and one of only two NHLs in Larimer County.

Learn more about the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, Soapstone Natural Area, and the Lindenmeier Archaeological Site.

(Photo: "Lindenmeier Excavations," 1936, H06553, Fort Collins History Connection, https://fchc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/ph/id/36383/rec/6.)

Next Work Session: Nov. 12, 2025, at 5:30 p.m., in person at City Hall (300 Laporte Ave., CIC Room). Public may attend, but no public participation occurs at work sessions.

Next Regular Meeting: Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m., in person at City Hall (300 Laporte Ave., Council Chambers) or virtually via Zoom. Public may attend and provide comment.

Agenda:

• Consent Agenda
  • Minutes of Sept. 17, 2025
• Discussion Agenda: 
  • Staff Activity Report
  • Special Demolition Notification - 1513 N. College Ave., K-Bar-D/Budget Host Motel (commercial property with no development currently proposed)
  • Conceptual Development Review - 1000 W. Prospect Rd., Coffin House - Proposed multistory student housing project with adaptive reuse of main house and other site features

Surveys in Progress:
We are currently researching the following properties to determine if they are eligible to be Fort Collins Landmarks in association with a current development review application. Determinations of eligibility are based on the best available information today and are valid for five years. Members of the public with information regarding the history of these properties should contact Historic Preservation Services as soon as possible at preservation@fcgov.com.

• 629 Stover St. – Triplex, moved onto the site in 1944, development review to certify triplex use
• 314 N. Howes St. - Commercial Building, c. 1960, City-owned property, advance planning

Recent Survey Results: 

• 1513 N. College Ave. (K-Bar-D/Budget Host Motel) -1946-1973 (multiple buildings) - Demolition proposed, no development currently planned; Landmark Eligible
• 1900 Laporte Ave. - c. 1900 single-unit dwelling - Inventory of City-owned property (no planned development); Not Landmark Eligible
• 5630 Tilden St, single-family dwelling, built 1974 - survey of City-owned property initiated by Social Sustainability; Not Landmark Eligible
• 4305 & 4325 E. Harmony Rd. - 1920 farmhouse & 1971 gas station - Development Review - demolition proposed for new development; Not Landmark Eligible
• 622 S. Grant Ave, duplex built in 1940 - Proposed ADU; Not Landmark Eligible

The City of Fort Collins requires public notification prior to the demolition of single-unit residences over 50 years of age. These notifications occur to inform neighbors of a potential change coming to their neighborhood and because certain groups can nominate a property for Landmark designation against the wishes of a property owner under Municipal Code Sec. 14-31 (the HPC by motion, a City Councilmember by written request, or three residents together by petition). Public noticing is considered complete the day after the HPC meeting for which it is noticed. Written public comments can be submitted to preservation@fcgov.com up to 48 hours prior to the HPC meeting for inclusion with the meeting packet. These notifications appear on the commission's discussion agenda, and an opportunity for spoken public comment will also be provided at the meeting. Visit the recently updated Single-Unit Dwelling Demolition Notification webpage for more detailed information on this process.

Active Demolition Notices:

• Standalone Demolition Notification (demo of commercial property with no development currently proposed) - 1513 N. College Ave. (K-Bar-D/Budget Host Motel), built 1946-1973 (multiple buildings)

Recently Completed Demolition Notices:

• 1617 Person Ct., built c. 1947; (no public comment at 8/20/2025 HPC Meeting; no action taken by HPC)
• 408 N. Loomis Ave., built c. 1906; (no public comment at 5/21/2025 HPC Meeting; no action taken by HPC)
• 121 N. Whitcomb St., built c. 1895; (no public comment at 5/21/2025 HPC Meeting; no action taken by HPC)
• 712 Scenic Dr., built 1975; (no public comment at 4/16/2025 HPC meeting; no action taken by HPC)
• 125 W. Trilby Rd., built 1963; (no public comment at 4/16/2025 HPC meeting; no action taken by HPC)

In November 1913, this ad from The Meyer Store suggested that all men want to look their best on Thanksgiving, "the Easter of the fall season as far as style is concerned." At their shop at 130 S. College Ave., you could pick up a new suit for as little as $4.95.

The mixed-use building at 130 S. College Ave. does not currently have any historic designations, but it is eligible for listing as a local Landmark for its association with the development of the "New Town" commercial area south of College and Mountain Avenues, for its association with Fort Collins's Jewish community through Samuel Meyer, respected local businessman and owner of The Meyer Store, and for its early 20th century commercial architecture. 

(Image: Advertisement. The Weekly Courier. November 28, 1913.)