12/15/2023
Congrats to the Emergent Campus team! Proud to be housed in this incredible building!
EMERGENT CAMPUS AWARDED STEPHEN H. HART AWARD
History Colorado’s State Historical Fund and State Historic Preservation Office are deeply involved in numerous archaeology and historic preservation initiatives spanning communities across the state each year. From this long and impressive list, Emergent Campus has been selected to receive the History Colorado Board of Directors’ Award and will be celebrated as one of only five projects being honored in 2024 at History Colorado’s annual Stephen H. Hart Awards celebration.
DENVER — December 13, 2023 — History Colorado is proud to announce the winners of the 38th Stephen H. Hart Awards for Historic Preservation. Given out annually, the Stephen H. Hart Awards are Colorado’s highest recognition for projects or individuals that exemplify the outstanding archaeology and historic preservation work being done in the Centennial State every day. Named after Colorado’s first Historic Preservation Officer, the Hart Award recipients are nominated by the staff of History Colorado and selected for their contributions to the field of preservation. These projects are recognized for their innovative approaches, in-depth research, and/or use of proper techniques that honor the historic significance and craftsmanship of Colorado’s archaeological and built environment.
“This year's awardees are a beautiful demonstration of how preservation combined with community can provide solutions to some of today's challenges,” said Dawn DiPrince, President/CEO of History Colorado & State Historic Preservation Officer. “We are recognizing projects that create affordable housing, build an inclusive historic record, and catalyze economic opportunity in rural Colorado.”
History Colorado Board Award: Emergent Campus | Florence, CO Originally located in Downtown Canon City, the Emergent Campus invests in rural prosperity by bringing high tech jobs to rural Colorado and providing space for innovation sector workers, remote tech workers, and other entrepreneurs. Since Emergent Campus moved into the historic Florence High School in 2019, it has actively transformed the space to provide co-working and business offices to provide an attractive solution for tech companies seeking lower operating costs. This transformed space and extended program is responsible for 80+ new tech-based jobs in Fremont County, all while maintaining the historic integrity of Florence High School. Emergent Campus is being recognized for being a strong proponent of adaptive reuse and its commitment to historic preservation and effort to have the Florence High School Building listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the work done in Florence, the Emergent Campus is working to apply their successful model of adaptively reusing historic buildings to generate tech sector jobs to Trinidad. Using a variety of funding sources – and strategic partnerships with Trinidad State College and local school district – this future extension of Emergent Campus is intended to provide education and job opportunities that are currently not available in Trinidad and will be housed at Trinidad's historic Park School.
Additional information about the Stephen H. Hart Awards, as well as a complete list of previous winners, can be found at:
https://www.historycolorado.org/stephen-h-hart-awards-historic-preservation
