Historic
Preservation

The Old North End’s Historic Preservation Committee is often at the forefront of neighborhood activities devoted to the preservation of its significant architecture and history. Five books and continuing house plaque and oral history programs capture and convey its stories. Along with other community organizations, the Old North End Neighborhood and its Historic Preservation Committee celebrate all local history.

• Committee Background: The ONEN Overlay Zoning Committee, forerunner to the present Historic Preservation Committee, was organized in 1999 to pursue overlay zoning for the neighborhood’s North End National Register Historic District.  Under the auspices of the neighborhood association and working with City Planner Tim Scanlon and the City’s Historic Preservation Board, the committee began a year-long public process of outreach to the neighborhood to build support for overlay zoning.  This included mailings, Q & A pamphlets, coffees, public meetings with the City and yard signs.  After returned postcards in a mail-in vote showed that 82% of property owners in the historic district supported overlay zoning, the request went to Planning Commission and, with its support, on to the Colorado Springs City Council. Overlay zoning for the North End National Register Historic District was approved in October 2000.                                                        

• Committee Formation: In the early 2000s, after reviewing the neighborhood Master Plan’s section on Historic Preservation and looking towards new goals and objectives, the committee changed its name to the ONEN Historic Preservation Committee, and the ONEN Master Plan became a definite “road map” for continued historic preservation initiatives for both the ONEN Board and its Historic Preservation Committee. 

• Examples of the committee’s preservation initiatives include historic-looking street lights on Tejon Street; black and white street signs and neighborhood identifiers; six neighborhood entryways; and a grant to write and publish Exploring the Old North End of Colorado Springs, authored by committee members Jennifer Wendler Lovell and Robert D. Loevy. Additional information about these projects may be found under the Historic Preservation Initiatives pages of this website. 

• Another example of an activity supported by the Historic Preservation Committee is the National History Day Regional Competition at Colorado College.  

• Volunteer: The Historic Preservation Committee needs and welcomes volunteers.  Please contact chairperson Pat Doyle or Susan Darby at info@oldnorthend.org to learn more about the committee, to volunteer, or discuss ways you would like to contribute. 

For a more detailed history of the Old North End Neighborhood organization, its various committees, and the work of neighbors who have contributed to the welfare of the Old North End, please read Preserving a Historic Neighborhood by Robert D. Loevy. This incredible account was informed by participants and archived neighborhood association materials.