AURORA MUSEUM FOUNDATION

The story of Aurora, Colorado

October 2007 Newsletter

 ART AND FILMS ARE ON MUSEUM'S FALL CALENDAR

The Aurora History Museum shifts gears this autumn from the somber world of the 2001 destruction of New York City’s World Trade Center to the bright worlds of art and filmmaking.  The Aurora Artists Guild’s 13th annual Gateway to the Rockies Art Exhibit opens to the public on Tuesday, October 9 and runs until November 3.  And when the art exhibit closes it will be followed on November 20 by Hollywood, Colorado, an exhibit providing a glimpse at some of the more than 500 movies that have been made in Colorado since l908.
 
The Gateway to the Rockies Art Exhibit each year is Aurora’s largest juried exhibition of paintings, photography and miniatures.  Most of the work on display is offered for sale and a commission of 30 per cent of the sold work goes to Aurora’s cultural programs.

Jill Soukup will judge the art competition and Hal. D. Gould will selected the winning photography entries.  The miniatures will be judge by Jackie McFarland.

Presentation of awards to the winners in each category will be made at a wine and cheese reception at the Aurora History Museum from 5 to 8 p. m. on Friday, October 12.

Hollywood, Colorado, a history of movie production, in the state has been on the drawing board for more than a year.  Visitors will have the opportunity by viewing posters and film clips to browse through the famous Westerns, silent films and horror stories that have been filmed in Colorado.
                                                                    
A brief listing of some of the more notable films produced in Colorado include How the West Was Won, True Grit, Around the World in 80 Days, The Glen Miller Story, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Sleeper.

Special emphasis will be given to famous and important filmmakers of Colorado including silent western star Gilbert A. “Bronco Billy” Anderson, art filmmaker Stan Brakhage, director for the Selig Polyscope Company Harry H. Buckwalter and noted ski documentary filmmaker Warren Miller.

While it will be on display only from November 6 until December 14, the Aurora History Museum’s 8th annual Festival of  Wreaths will brighten the Community Gallery with holiday cheer.  The wreaths are offered for sale at a silent auction and may be claimed by the winning bidders on December 15.

While the Aurora History Museum’s 2008 schedule of exhibits remains tentative, Hollywood, Colorado is expected by be followed by an exhibit on the world of Art Deco architecture that was so popular in the first half of the 20th century. That exhibit opens on February 26, 2008.

 COAL CREEK SCHOOL RELOCATION ON COMMISSION AGENDA

Relocation the Coal Creek School from its present site near the Beck Recreation Center and the Springhill Golf c Course is currently on the agenda for Aurora’s Historic Preservation Commission.  Moved twice from its original location near the Lowry Landfill, the city of Aurora is being asked to move the one-room schoolhouse once again to make way for a new park with playing fields.

Preservation Commission members have considered three different locations for the Coal Creek School and at a special meeting on July 19 voted to recommend that the schoolhouse be moved to property owned by Aurora Public Schools adjacent to Pickens College on Airport Boulevard.  The l920's Coal Creek schoolhouse would be adjacent to a new K-8 school APS plans to open on the Pickens site in 2008.

Second choice of commission members for a new location for Coal Creek school is the DeLaney Farm historic district.  The third site considered by preservation commission members was property adjacent to the Murphy Creek K-8 school east of Gun Club road and south of Mississippi avenue.

Preservation commission member John Dale has met with representatives of the Aurora Public Schools to evaluate their interest in having the Coal Creek school relocated to the Pickens College property. The federal government had donated 35 acres of land adjacent to Buckley Air Force Base to the school district with the understanding that it would be developed for education purposes.  The property already includes the new William Smith alternative high school and the school district’s bus facility as well as Pickens College (formerly Pickens Vocational and Technical school). The site proposed for Coal Creek school would be close to the new magnet K-8 school which is under construction.

The Coal Creek school served rural Aurora families living east of Gun Club road until l960. The original schoolhouse burned in l927 or 1928 and the present structure was built on the old foundation. Before the school was moved to Springhill property it was stored for several years near the intersection of Colfax avenue and I-70.

The Outpost: At their regular meeting on August 7, members of the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission were told that Mr. and Mrs. George Smith, owners of the Outpost on East Colorado avenue, have inquired about the possibility of having the social hall and the adjacent Stockade landmarked.

The Outpost has been the site of an untold number of wedding, parties and dances and other social events in the 35 years that the hall has been in operation.  The Stockade is a small wooden replica of a frontier fort that was built in the early l960's for a defunct amusement park in Jefferson county.  The Smiths had purchased it and moved it to the Outpost site for use as a play area for their children.

The Outpost property also includes a small l920's or early l930's home that had been moved from 11th avenue and Alton street.  Informed by Historic Preservation Assistant Brian Shaw of the advantages and disadvantages of historic landmarking the Smith’s told Shaw that they would consider the possibilities and let the preservation commission know what they intend to do.

Colfax Properties: There are a number of buildings on Colfax Avenue between Yosemite street on the west and Peoria street on the east that date from Aurora’s founding in the last decade of the l9th century and the first two decades of the 20th century.  While these buildings may have gone through so many changes that they probably won’t qualify for historic landmarking, members of the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission are considering  identifying the buildings and their original use, perhaps by attaching information plaques to them.  At  their August 7 meeting, commission members examined photographs taken by Bob Soman of the buildings.

Centennial House: At its September 4 meeting, members of the Aurora Historical Preservation Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for  the design of a storage shed to be constructed in the southwest corner of the back yard at the city’s historic Centennial House.  The Aurora Historical Society is sponsoring a complete replacement of the Centennial House landscaping .  The 8x12 foot storage shed will house tables and chairs used for outdoor events at the museum house as well as yard and garden tools.

New Members: Bill Convery and Ruth Fountain  are the newest members of the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission.  Convery teaches at the University of Colorado–Denver and Mrs.Fountain is president of the Aurora Historical Society and a former Aurora City council member.  Both were sworn in at the city council’s August l3 meeting.

Editor’s Note: Since the newsletter for the Aurora Preservation Commission has been discontinued, at least temporarily, the editor of the Aurora Museum Foundation newsletter and the Aurora Historical Society’s Advocate, has been asked to incorporate additional news of preservation activities in those publication.  He is glad to do so.  RAE     

The Aurora History Museum has experienced a fabulous summer thanks in large part of its moving September 11, 2001: The First 24 Hours exhibition on the destruction of the World Trade Center twin towers.  The exhibition opened on July 3 and by the end of its first month museum attendance had exceeded by nearly 1,000 the previous record for a single month’s attendance.

Helped by a generous serving of  television and newspaper coverage, the 9-11 exhibit continued to boost museum attendance right up to its closing day–September 30.

The museum hosted a memorial service for the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on September 11 this year and some 250 visitors crowded the courtyard between the history museum and Aurora’s police station to hear talks by Governor Bill Ritter, Mayor Ed  Tauer, Deputy Police Chief Terry Jones and Interim Fire Chief John Scott.  Aurora Firemen Capt. Jack Branum, Capt Scott Mills and Lt. Clint Mitchell who went to New York City after the 9-11 attack to assist in cleanup effort were introduced by Chief Scott.   Closing the memorial service for the 9-11 victims was the second live performance of The Recovery Suite, performed by  the Rocky Mountain Bell Ringers handbell choir and French horn player David Unkrich.

Aurora Police Detective Shannon Lucy provided the narration for The Recovery Suite. The moving composition was composed for September 11, 2001: The First 24 Hours by the history museum’s Ken Clinton who was a longtime musical performer and educator in the East. Audio discs of The Recovery Suite are on sale in the museum’s store.

Final remarks were presented by David Patterson, regional manager for Rural/Metro Ambulance Service which was the corporate sponsor for the exhibit. Following the program there was a special showing of September 11, 2001: The First 24 Hours in the museum and refreshments were served courtesy of Katherine’s Bakery, Café To Go and Catering and Wild Goose Coffee.

The Aurora History Museum’s Curator of Collection Matt Chasansky served as master of ceremonies for the memorial program.  While the New York State Museum recovered the artifacts from the World Trade Center that were exhibited in Aurora, Chasansky with help from other museum staff members were largely responsible for putting the exhibit together.   Aurora’s was the first showing of the artifacts which were recovered at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island between September 12, 2001 and June 28, 2002.

The Rocky Mountain Bell Ringers introduced Ken Clinton’s The Recovery Suite at city’s July 4 fete

COMMANDANT'S BUILDING AT LOWRY DEDICATED
Story reported by Steven A Simon, USAFA Class of 1977

“Expect Great Things.”
A half-century before a national department store chose those words for an advertising campaign, they were uttered by then-Air Force Chief of Staff Nathan F. Twining. He spoke at the Air Force Academy’s temporary Lowry Air Force Base site on 11 July 1955, where 306 young men took the oath as members of the Academy’s first class–the Class of ‘59.  Walter Cronkite broadcast live from the fledgling Academy site. Aircraft filled the sky in an aerial tribute to the nation’s newest service Academy.  General Twining prophetically warned that , “Everybody will be looking over your shoulder, and they will be critical, for they have a right to expect great things.”

On Tuesday, 4 September 2007, dignitaries again assembled at Lowry to honor the Air Force Academy.  Though the Academy had long ago moved south to its permanent location in Colorado Springs and Lowry Air Base had been closed, for one brief period, General Twining’s words, Walter Cronkite’s distinctive voice and the sound of aircraft hung in the air.  In fact, fighters from nearby Buckley AFB unwittingly provided some comforting jet fighter audio as the ceremony began.  The presence of the Cadet Honor Guard and a six-piece subset of the Academy band added pomp and solemnity to the scene.

The ceremony was to commemorate Lowry Building 880, which served as the Commandant of Cadet’s office from 1954-1958.  After years of effort by Aurora and Academy authorities, the building was officially added to the nation’s National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  As speaker Carl Loescher, co-chair of the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission said, “NRHP is the national’s official list of cultural resources worthy of presentation.  It is part of a national program to coordinate and  support public and private and efforts to identify, evaluate and protect our historic and archeological resources.”

Built in 1942, Lowry Building 880 served as an administration and supply building for the training schools during World War II.  Colorado Springs was chosen in June 1954 as the permanent site of the Academy, but that home would not be available for several years, and the Academy was due to open in just over a year.  Lieutenant General Hubert R. Harmon, before officially becoming the Academy’s first superintendent, evaluated several Denver locations and chose Lowry AFB as the interim site.  Building 880 became a key part of that site where the military piece of the new Academy was formulated. The Commandant and most of his staff worked there.  For that reason, it was not particularly popular with cadets.  Speaking at the ceremony, retired Major General Pete Todd, Class of ‘59, said, “As cadets, we never wanted to come here.”

General Todd had the most poignant comment in tribute to the importance of the training conceived and developed in Building 880.  He said the essence of  the U. S. Air Force Academy was in the Commandant’s operation.  Unlike in most businesses, he said, “Our mistakes come home in body bags.”

Brigadier General Susan Desjardins, current Commandant of Cadets, spoke of the fitting nature of using the World War II buildings for the Academy’s early years, as that war “played such an important role in the early days of the Air Force Academy.”  General Desjardins, the 23rd Commandant, also evoked the memory of the first Commandant, Brigadier General Robert M. Stillman, who worked in Building 880. She said that while the times have changed, many things have not.  The Academy’s mission has remained the same.  She and General Stillman saw the same qualities in the cadets–they are dedicated, motivated and have strong character.  And they still don’t want to go to the Commandant’s office.

The Commandant’s Building at Lowry has continued to serve the community in a number of ways since the Academy departed. It housed administrative offices until 1983 when it became a museum,  the Wings over the Rockies Heritage Center.  When Lowry AFB closed, the City of Aurora acquired Building 880.  Aurora Mayor Edward Tauer spoke of the difficulty in celebrating an important building when its mission has changed.  He used the term “adaptive reuse” to describe the process of converting old resources to new uses.  Building 880 is a prime example of this concept.  The City designated it as an Aurora Historic Landmark and set about renovating it.  In 2001, the building was rededicated as an intergenerational community center with senior and pre-school programs, a role it fills today.

A small brass plaque affixed to the side of the building will always remind people of its key role in the formative years of the Air Force Academy.  With its place in history now secured, Lowry Building 880, the Commandant of Cadets Building, will forever be celebrated as the place where people first learned of the Air Force Academy and knew to expect great things.

Editor’s Note: Lt. Col. Steven A Simon, USAF (Retired) wrote this story for the Air Force Academy newspaper and it was published in the September 7 edition.  It presents the story of the inclusion of Lowry Building 880 on the National Register of Historic Places from the perspective of academy graduates.  Steven Simon is on the staff at the Air Force Academy serving as liaison with the graduate and donor communities.  Writing is his hobby and he writes  frequently for the base newspaper and the Association of Graduates quarterly magazine.

Presentation of the colors during the September 4 dedication of Commandant’s Building at Lowry

   IT'S HOMECOMING FOR MUSEUM'S NEW EDUCATION CURATOR

Jennifer Kuehner, the Aurora History Museum’s new education curator, didn’t have to spend a lot of time getting acquainted with her new community when she started her new job early in July.  While she wasn’t born in Aurora, she came here with her parents in time to enroll in the second grade at Polton grade school and she graduated from Overland high school before earning her bachelor of arts degree in history at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Jennifer was on the staff of the Farmington, New Mexico museum for seven years before she enrolled in graduate school at George Washington University in Washington, D. C.  where she earned a master of arts degree with a specialty in museum education.

She was the assistant curator for education at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield for eight years before the accepted the position of education curator at the Aurora History Museum.

Her parents, Warren and Betty Kuehner, live in Denver and her father is the director of  information systems for the University of Denver’s Women’s College. Jennifer Kuehner replaces Mary Ellen Schoonover as the Aurora History Museum’s education curator.  Mary Ellen retired at the end of May to return to college to continue her work toward  earning a  doctorate.  During her seven years as the museum’s education curator, Mary Ellen launched several of the education activities which have made the Aurora History Museum become regionally recognized for quality and innovative programing.

MUSEUM STORE'S COUNTRY EMPOREUM WILL BE IN OPERATION AGAIN 

Members of the Aurora Museum Foundation will be operating their Country Emporium again at the city’s Jack-O-Launch and PumpkinFest celebration Saturday, October 13 at the DeLaney Farm. Merchandise offered for sale will include old-fashioned toys, cookbooks and candy.  Volunteering to set up and operate  the store are Cathy Sanders, Hal Dunning, Fred Seybold, Jay Bobick, Ruth Schmunk and Carol Drollinger.The Country Emporium will be open for business from 9 a. m. until 4 p. m. 

MOVIES AND TROLLEYS ADDED TO BROWN BAG SCHEDULE

The Aurora History Museum’s Brown Bag and White Linen Lectures will continue in 2008 and motion pictures and trolleys will be the topics discussed in January and February.  The lectures are scheduled at noon on the third Wednesday of each month.  The cost is $4 for Aurora residents and $5 for non residents. Those participating must bring their own sack lunch.
The schedule through February of 2008:

Wednesday, October 17:  Aurora’s City Budget: Priorities and Challenges.  This presentation with Mike Trevethick will focus on many of the key issues shaping Aurora’s budget for 2008 and beyond. Aurora is a growing city with diverse service needs.  Like other cities, it must address these needs within the constraints provided by the local economy and Colorado’s fiscal environment.
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Wednesday, November 21: The Making of a City: Police.  Deputy Police Chief Terry Jones will give a brief overview of the responsibilities of the Aurora Police Department.

Wednesday, December 19: A Holiday Musical Treat: Members of the Burns Memorial United Methodist Church choir will present a program of Christmas seasonal music.

Wednesday, January 16: A Century of Film Making in Colorado: Join the executive director of the Colorado Film Commission, Kevin Shand, as he shares stories of the more than 100-year history of film making in Colorado. Take a few  moments before or after the program to view  the Aurora History Museum’s exhibition, Hollywood, Colorado.

Wednesday, February 20: Stepping Back in Time: Denver’s Electric Trolley Heritage.   This fascinating presentation by a member of the Denver Rail Heritage Society, Darrell Arndt, excites rail fans.  Join us as we discover Denver’s street car history, learn about the Platte Valley Trolley and discuss future historic rail projects.

TROLLEY FINDS A NEW HOME BUT IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY

Aurora’s famous Trolley Trailer No 610, rescued from an East Colfax avenue farm home more than a year ago, has found a new home but it’s only temporary.  In early July, the trolley trailer was jacked up and moved from Aurora’s Central  Maintenance  Facility on Potomac street to a  new  warehouse on Telluride street north of Sixth avenue.

Restoration of the trolley trailer, which once carried passengers on Colfax avenue in Aurora, is expected to get underway soon.

The Aurora Museum Foundation is guaranteeing the payment of the rent for the warehouse pending the launching of a fund-raising campaign to pay for the restoration of the trolley.
Morey Miller, supervisor of construction at Pickens Tech before he retired in 1995, has volunteered to head the restoration effort.

Major hurdles remain.  A firm in the state of Washington has been located that will fabricate trucks and wheels for the trolley trailer but they are quite expensive.  And still to be found is a permanent location to display Trolley Trailer No. 610 under cover once it has been restored.

The Denver Tramway Company trolley trailer was one of three sold to Dr. Edwin Perott of Aurora in l950 for $50 each.  Dr. Perott  incorporated the trolley into a home he was building on East Colfax avenue.

The trolley served as a bedroom in the home.   When the home was scheduled for demolition in July of 2006 William Perott of Centennial, son of Dr. Edwin Perott, gave the trolley trailer to the city of Aurora.

While the trolley is in excellent condition because it was protected from the weather for 66 years, it is missing many important parts including the metal wheels and the truck assembly which hold the wheels in place.  The restorers expect to be able to fabricate many of the missing parts.