Chautauqua designation brings new challenges

BOULDER – With the designation in February of Chautauqua Park as a national historic landmark, the Colorado Chautauqua Association is working to honor its past while planning for its future. The association has been focused on preservation for many years, but is now taking it to the next level.

“The designation has upped the ante of our stewardship,´ said Steve Watkins, Chautauqua’s preservation director.

The historical designation brings challenges. For one, the association must prepare for increased usage, including adding more bathrooms, drinking fountains and interpretive and directional signage, while keeping Chautauqua’s look, feel and character the same. For help, the association turned to two outside agencies.

In 2004, the association received a cultural landscape assessment from Mundus Bishop Design in Denver tracing the evolution of Chautauqua. The intention was to determine how to respect historical design integrity while accommodating current usage. Then in February the association and Boulder city officials met with the Urban Land Institute to discuss the challenges they face in planning for a sustainable second century at Chautauqua.

“It’s easy to look backwards at preservation, but this is a living and breathing place – not just a museum – and we need to prepare for the future,´ said Susan Connelly, executive director of the Colorado Chautauqua Association. “We will be successful if 100 years from now this place hardly looks any different.”

Another challenge involves the restoration and preservation of buildings. The association has been quite successful in obtaining grants for the rehabilitation of its structures, such as the recently restored Cantwell Cottage, built circa 1901. Its next project is to replace the auditorium roof, but due to the designation the project has hit a slight snag.

Prior to the historic landmark designation, the association had received a grant from the State Historical Fund to replace the auditorium roof with composite shingles. But when Chautauqua received landmark status, both the State Historical Fund and the National Park Service wanted to explore replacing the roof with historically accurate materials. However, that would mean using wood shingles, which is against Boulder’s fire codes. The association will work with the city to determine a solution. “We will probably come up with something relatively groundbreaking that will hopefully help other historic sites,” Connelly said.

The Chautauqua Association entrance is another dilemma. The association does not own the Chautauqua land, but instead leases it from the city. Its lease does not include the Chautauqua Green or the open space trails, which is where Chautauqua’s main entrance is located. This arrangement poses some challenges because while the main entrance to Chautauqua is not part of the association’s lease-hold, it is its entry statement. In addition to attracting visitors, the entrance also should be safe and convenient, according to Connelly. The association is initiating conversations with the city to look at these issues.

Frank Bruno, Boulder city manager, is confident the association will find a solution to the auditorium roof and other issues facing Chautauqua. “There has always been a spirit of collaboration between Chautauqua and the city,” he said.

With tourism dollars at stake, all parties involved recognize it is in their best interests to work together. “The designation gives us not only a regional marketing message, but it also gives national exposure to the Colorado Chautauqua and Boulder,´ said Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Chautauqua Park was opened in 1898 as a summer educational and cultural retreat as part of the Chautauqua movement. The movement was an effort to bring cultural and educational experiences to the masses, ideally in an inspiring setting away from daily life. The Chautauqua movement died out in the 1930s with the Great Depression, and most of the established Chautauquas disappeared.

The Colorado Chautauqua is special because it has survived with many of buildings still intact and its original intent is still being carried on. It is the only continuously operating Chautauqua west of the Mississippi River and one of the few that is left in the nation.

Although the Colorado Chautauqua primarily has held its cultural offerings in the summer, the association will be shifting its focus to being a year-round destination. “We want people to come any time of the year and have interesting, stimulating and enriching activities,” Connelly said.

The landmark status is an opportunity to truly brand Chautauqua. According to Connelly and Watkins, few understand what Chautauqua really is. They hope the designation will spark an interest in people to learn more about the Colorado Chautauqua and the Chautauqua movement.

Bruno agrees. “We need to focus on what we have that makes Boulder special,” he said. “The Chautauqua is something unique that we have to the make most of.”

The association will spend this year developing a business plan to find a balance between preserving the past and sharing it. “We constantly walk a fine line between use and overuse,” Connelly said. “We want people to come and experience this place as an integrative retreat, but we don’t want to over-strain the precious resource it is.”

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