The Cortez Historic Preservation Board will hold a public meeting on Feb. 12, to discuss creating a Montezuma Avenue historic district.
The meeting will include a presentation by Jill Seyfarth, the city’s historic preservation consultant. She’ll explain what creating an honorary historic district would entail, and propose three options.
The western boundary in all options is N. Chestnut Street. The north and south boundaries are the alleys adjacent on Montezuma Avenue. There are three possibilities for the east boundary: the eastern boundary of the Original Townsite at 219 E. Montezuma, N. Washington Street, or N. Harrison Street.
Maps at the meeting will more clearly define these boundaries.
In 2011 and 2012, the City of Cortez conducted an inventory of properties on Montezuma Avenue to determine which ones are historic. As a result, 61 properties were determined to be eligible for the Cortez Register of Historic Sites. Twenty-two owners of properties chose to have them listed on the City Register, an honorary designation.
Due to the high number of historic properties, the board would like to consider the possibility of forming a historic district. However, this will happen only if there is sufficient neighborhood support. The median on Montezuma Avenue is designated as a historic site on the City Register, but the “site” only includes the median, not any of the privately owned properties on the Avenue.
The meeting will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church at 6 p.m. in the Church Hall, 28 E. Montezuma Ave.
For more information, call Historic Preservation chairman Linda Towle at 970-565-3987.
