Durango Business Improvement District

Since its founding by the railroad in 1880, Durango has enjoyed a succession and an ever expanding cadre of residents who feel passionately about its Downtown. Over the years, town fathers and mothers have sought to enhance and bring improvements to what was once called the “Queen City of the San Juans.”

In 1894, following the fires that devastated the downtown district, Durango created one of the first paid fire departments in the State of Colorado. City ordinances were passed to encourage buildings made of brick, mortar and stone – many of which are still standing and make up the heart of the Historic Downtown. Furthering its independent nature, in 1912 the City of Durango was one of the first cities in Colorado to become a Home Rule City and take firm control of its future.

By the 1970s, Downtown was showing its age, so the citizenry stepped up to work with the City on the “Heritage for Tomorrow” initiative, which launched what would prove to be decades of public-private efforts to revitalize and sustain the Historic Downtown.

In 1997, the City Council authorized an election for a special improvement District, and that November, with an overwhelming show of support, the voters within the District choose to support that effort, along with the corresponding 1.5 mill levy.

Originally, the District was called the “Durango Conference Center Business Improvement District.” Early projects included a feasibility study for a downtown conference center, research regarding other Rocky Mountain communities and special event and District activity support. In November 2003, voters renewed their approval of  the 1.5 mill levy. As the District’s role in the City expanded, the name was changed to simply the Durango Business Improvement District (BID).

Also in 2003, the City of Durango created a new position to support Downtown, and hired its first Downtown Business and Promotions Specialist. Further, the Downtown Durango Partnership formed to provide Downtown stakeholders (both public and private) with a forum for coordination, advocacy and discussion of Downtown issues.

Activities at the BID, and within the Historic Downtown, have further accelerated in recent years. In partnership with the City, the BID became part of a physical office located at 1199 Main Ave., Suite 210, and acquired a steadily-expanding reserve of outdoor “equipment” to facilitate outdoor special events in Downtown. The entities also have teamed up for three “umbrella” marketing programs that collectively support activities in and around Downtown – Holidazzle, Fall for Durango Days, and
Spring it On!.

In addition to supporting events through marketing grants, “branding” the Historic Downtown has become a central focus of the BID. Efforts have gone far to unify “the look” and elevate awareness of the Downtown – so much so that Durango, primarily because of its Historic Downtown, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen Distinct Destinations for 2007.

To support guests and enhance their Downtown experience, BID helped fund and construct, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Durango Area Tourism Office and Fort Lewis College, an informational kiosk in the 700 block of Main Ave. Visitors receive a BID-sponsored bag to carry various brochures, as well as the BID-created, free Locater Guide to the District.

Though on the proverbial back burner for some years, hopes for a Downtown Conference and Events Center are still alive, and the original feasibility study is being up-dated in advance of a future election to help secure on-going funding for construction, management and marketing. Additional enhancements planned for the Historic Downtown in the coming year include wayfinding and sidewalk replacement programs.