May 10, 2009 5:53 am US/Mountain
Mining Camp Power Plant On Most Endangered Places
WALSENBURG, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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At its peak, the plant provided electricity to the mine, Walsen Camp and the town of Walsenburg -- all during the time when coal reigned supreme in Colorado.
CBS
Among Colorado's most endangered places is an abandoned coal-fired power plant, built in 1898 to provide light for the men working in the Walsen Mine.
At its peak, the plant provided electricity to the mine, Walsen Camp and the town of Walsenburg -- all during the time when coal reigned supreme in Colorado.
"It was the lifeblood of this area," said Carol Newman, a Walsenburg historian. "Under us, 80 men have lost their lives in the tunnels."
At its height approximately 400 men worked in the Walsen Mine.
"Because they needed so many people at the mine, they had recruiters at Ellis Island who would recruit farmers from the old country to come live here," she said.
Eventually water in the tunnels closed the mine, but the Walsen Power Plant stayed on for another 70 years.
"The city of Walsenburg bought this power plant in 1955 after the mine had closed and it supplied power for not only Walsenburg but also the rural areas into LaVeta," Newman said.
But in 1971, the lights went out permanently in the plant, severing the last community ties to the coal industry.
Newman said the power plant is a testament to the people who built the town.
"I think of all the people whose lives connected here," she said. "These families, their descendants still live here in Walsenburg and we're so enriched because there were 32 nationalities here speaking 27 languages."
Even new residents in the area feel a connection to the building. John Carlson has only been in Walsenburg three years but he wants to honor the area's history.
"From all impressions, you look around the area and you wouldn't know what industry built anything down here because it was torn down," he said.
The lack of those other buildings prompted Carlson to nominate the Walsen Power Plant for the most endangered places list.
"When I first proposed it, several people laughed at it right to my face, and many probably behind my back, because 'What can you do with that old building? It's just an old building, tear it down,'" he said.
"But yet, here is something that can be saved, it's a very well-built building and we can make something out of it."
Guillermo Sanchez knows that feeling. He and his brother saved the building 10 years ago.
"The previous owner and people were salvaging various material from the building, and in fact, were tearing it down," Sanchez said. "That is one of the reasons we were interested in purchasing the building, because we wanted that to stop."
For people like Sanchez and Carlson, the building is full of potential. It has solid walls, spacious rooms and plenty of character, as well as that all important asset -- location. It's right by a highway that more than three million vehicles pass every year.
Sanchez hopes to find the money and the vision to recognize the building's potential.
"That's always been in our plans, money being the issue, we haven't been able to do anything about it," Sanchez said. "Now I know there are people in this part of the country who are interested in restoring something like this."
People like Carlson who have vision it's a tough one to fulfill.
"It's getting a little scary because the next step is deciding what to do with it. Finding the money, in these times, that's not a good thing to be looking for."
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