EV Studio to work with HistoriCorps

EV Studio has been selected to work with HistoriCorps, a new public-private partnership organization formed earlier this year. Elicia Ratajczyk of the Evergreen office met yesterday with HistoriCorps director, Jonas Landes and performed a Site Survey of the historic Kortright Cabin near the ghost-town of Bonanza, Colorado. The cabin originally belonged to Doctor and Assayer S.E. Kortright around the turn of the century and sat at the nucleus of the town of Exchequer immediately next to the Exchequer Mill. Plans for the cabin will include rehabilitation as a rustic short-term rental unit, historic preservation strategies, ADA accessibility and may also include sustainability strategies such as water capture and/or renewable energy electricity production.

HistoriCorps was formed out of a partnership between the National Forest Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Colorado Preservation Inc. and the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado aimed at “engaging a network of volunteers and professionals to preserve and rehabilitate historic places”. The organization is modeled after organizations such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps and the work beginning this year in Colorado is considered a “Pilot Program” intended to be implemented across the nation in subsequent years. The following excerpt comes from the public announcement on the Colorado Preservation Inc. website:

• HistoriCorps is a public-private partnership that will create jobs for young adults, teach preservation maintenance and traditional building skills and advance sustainable technology for historic buildings. Colorado Preservation, Inc. will provide supervision, preservation specialists, training and administrative support.  The U.S. Forest Service will provide resources and the benefit of partnerships cultivated over the past decade. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado will manage the volunteer/trainee component.  Individual projects will build on existing local and community based partnerships.

EV Studio is excited about the opportunity to work with HistoriCorps and is very pleased to be able to combine our professional design, historic preservation and sustainability expertise in projects that will become assets to the State of Colorado and will help the pilot program become a great success!