Hutchinson Homestead Project Well Underway
By Katy Grether
The project to preserve the Hutchinson Ranch has taken a big step forward in 2007. The Main House is now sitting on new foundations constructed beneath the original location of the house. The building was lifted and moved off to one side while the new foundations were installed. Then, on a snowy day in April, it was moved back to its original location, but several inches higher than it had been.
The house had suffered from moisture over the years. Its floor joists and sills rested directly on the ground. Many old buildings in the area have a similar construction technique, but they are set on dry soil. At the Hutchinson Homestead, diverting the ditch behind the house for irrigation flooded the entire area around it.
Although this helped keep the beautiful old lilacs and enormous trees alive, it rotted the bottom of the house. When the current preservation effort began, the floorboards were rotting way one by one, and visitors were breaking through between what little was left of the joists.
Katy Grether acting on behalf of Salida-area Parks, Open-space and Trails (SPOT), and the Hutchinson Ranch Advisory Committee have worked several years to get to this point in the project. The Town of Poncha Springs accepted donation of the property by the Hutchinson family. A historic structure assessment and construction documents were done by Gary Higgins and Jackie Powell under a state historical fund grant/contract. The bee colony that has lived in the cavities of the west wall of the house for many years was removed. Duncan Moyes has provided architecture oversight during construction by Mike Perschbacher's firm, Older Than Dirt. All this was funded by grants from the Colorado State Historical Fund, and by a bequest from the Paquette estate.
Mike’s company, Older Than Dirt, specializes in historic structures and has the contract to restore the original ranch house inside and out so it can open to the public as the centerpiece of a new Hutchinson Homestead Museum and Cultural Center. The basic research for this and later phases of the project is contained in the historic structure assessment document.
Hutch, who is on the advisory committee, asked a number of times during the planning stages, "When are we going to start pounding some nails?" He was as concerned as anyone about the condition of the buildings, but putting the house on a new foundation was a major step to arrest its deterioration.
Now that the house is back on its foundation, Older Than Dirt has been pounding lots of nails! Mike and crew have reroofed the house and are repairing the siding and the front porch. The small front porch on the west part of the house that has been missing for many years is being rebuilt based on historic photographs and on architectural evidence found during the historic structure assessment. Exterior painting will occur this year, matching the historic paint found in hidden spots around the house. The windows and doors are being rehabilitated.
A number of members of Historic Salida, Inc. are working with SPOT and the Advisory Committee to help bring this project to fruition. For example, Bonnie Lathrop and Meriel Gooding have been sorting and cataloging the artifacts found during archaeological monitoring of foundation excavation.

If you would like to help, or want more information about the project, call Katy Grether at 539-9656.

Valley View School
Located two miles west of Salida on CR 140, Airport Road, the Valley View School is nestled at the base of a low mesa on a pinon-studded rise. It has an unimpeded view towards Salida to the southeast and across hayfields that lead down to the Arkansas River to the east.

Although there has been some vandalism, the buildingretains much of its historical integrity. Blackboards are still in place, as are the original floors and interior trim. A Boys Privy stands to the northwest, the Girls to the northeast. A wood flagpole stands tall in front of the main entrance, and the swing frame support remains to the west.

In 2002, members of Historic Salida, Inc. noticed that the school was deteriorating, and decided to try to find a way to preserve it. Soon after, the owner of the property, Roberta Koenig, passed away. The executor of her estate announced that he wanted to give the school and its site to a non-profit corporation. We notified him of its interest.

Since the organization was not in a position to own and manage property, we contacted Salida School District 32-J to see if there would be an educational use for this site. Fortunately, the school district had been looking for a place to have an alternative high school near Salida.

A Historic Structure Assessment was conducted for Valley View School, with a State Historical Fund grant sponsored by Historic Salida. Methods for bringing it up to code and installing needed systems were presented, along with ways to rehabilitate existing materials. School district staff began the process of seeking funding to match additional historical grants to make the school usable once more.

Unfortunately, staff changes and budget issues have prevented Valley View School from being returned to its original use as an educational facility. It continues to sit vacant, and Historic Salida members are searching for a viable use for it.

Historic Downtown Salida

The Smelting Plant