El Plan de Preservación Histórica (HPP) de Thornton se está redactando actualmente y se encuentra en las últimas etapas de redacción. Puede encontrar más información sobre el borrador del Plan a continuación.
To guide future and on-going historic preservation efforts, the city of Thornton is seeking to create a Historic Preservation Plan (HPP). The Historic Preservation Plan will provide a short and long-term vision of what preservation means to the community. The Plan is used to guide and align public and private investments in Thornton's historic landmarks with the shared vision and values of the community, and to provide policy direction on how to best preserve Thornton's history and cultural landscapes. The HPP will establish goals, major strategies, recommended surveying actions to identify historic properties, and key policies related to Thornton's historic landmarks to ensure preservation of historic buildings and landscapes across the City. For additional context, view a mapping presentation of Thornton's Historic Places of Interest.
It is anticipated that the creation of the Thornton Historic Preservation Plan will result in the following outcomes:
A broad overview and historic context study of Thornton
Creation of historic preservation goals and priorities through community outreach
A prioritized and phased list recommending further research, including specific historic context studies and historic resource surveys to undertake
Recognition of Thornton's historic character and cultural landscapes to support Thornton's work to enhance its sense of place
Estimated Timeframe
Project Phase
Community Outreach
January - April 2023 (complete)
Phase A: Project Initiation and Orientation
Community Open House #1 was held on April 5, 2023. To access the presentation or recording of the presentation, you may select the links on the right sidebar under the title "Community Meeting Presentations" group.
March - December 2023 (complete and ongoing)
Phase B: Historic Context Study
Community Open House #2 - An in-person Community Open House was held on August 2, 2023. To access the presentation you may select the links on the right sidebar under the title "Community Meeting Presentations" group.
Community Interviews (on-going)
April - December 2023 (completed)
Phase C: Historic Preservation Goals
Advisory Group Meeting - The first advisory group meeting was held on July 31, 2023. To access the materials provided at t you may select the links on the right sidebar under the title "Project Documents" group; documents referencing "Historic Context" were provided at this meeting.
Focus Groups (Completed) Online Survey (Completed)
January 2024 - June 2024 (completed)
Phase D: Recommendations and Prioritized Implementation Schedule
Advisory Group Meeting - An in-person Advisory Group meeting was held on January 10, 2024.
Planning Commission - Staff provided an overview of the core components of the HPP to the Planning Commission on March 5, 2024. The core components reviewed by the Commission largely comprise Chapter 3 of the draft plan, the items most impactful to land use.
July 2024 - December 2024
Phase E: Plan Completion
City Council - Staff presented to the City Council at their July 30, 2024 Planning Session on the draft Thornton Historic Preservation Plan (HPP) and receive direction from Council on finalizing the draft for consideration of approval at a future Council meeting.
Advisory Group Meeting - An in-person Advisory Group meeting was held on September 30, 2024.
Thornton incorporated as a municipality in 1956, around the time of a big regional population boom occurring post-World War II. This project will also consider the history prior to Thornton's incorporation. Prior to incorporation, most of the land served as unincorporated agricultural land or small rural railroad towns, such as Eastlake. Further, prior to settlement and the Colorado Gold Rush, the Thornton area was home to several Native American tribes.
To better understand Thornton's history and cultural landscapes, it is important to identify specific areas of historic context to better understand how to make decisions about the identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment of historic properties (for example: Mid-century Modern Architecture). Information about historic properties representing aspects of history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture must be collected and organized to define these relationships. This organizational framework is called a historic context. The historic context organizes information based on a cultural theme and its geographical and chronological limits. The following documents represent specific historic context in Thornton:
On June 15, 2021, Thornton's City Council gave direction to Thornton staff to seek Certified Local Government (CLG) status; Thornton currently does not fulfill all the requirements to become a CLG. Thornton currently has an adopted Historic Recognition process – adopted in 2012 – but it does not fulfill the CLG requirements. It's the intent of this project to create a historic preservation program and explore what that means to the community. In part, the Historic Preservation Plan will help guide future efforts in becoming a Certified Local Government. To learn more about CLG requirements, you may read more at the State's Historic Preservation Office webpage.
The city will be providing opportunities for community members to be involved throughout the process. Information about the project and ways in which the community can participate will posted on this webpage as the plan progresses.
To be added to the project mailing list please email the Long Range Planning Division at the email LongRange.Planning@thorntonco.gov; or call 303.538.7295.
Community recognition of Thornton's history and heritage creates a sense of belonging, pride, and identity. Identification and preservation of buildings and structures from the city's history help make Thornton a special place. In December 2012, City Council adopted the "Historic Recognition Code" which is Chapter 19 of the Thornton City Code to provide a procedure for officially recognizing historic sites, structures, and districts within the city.
Like many suburbs built after 1950, Thornton's history as a city begins at its agricultural roots in the late 1800s and early 1900s, long before its incorporation as a municipality in 1956. This history extends through the original post-WWII subdivisions into the extraordinary population growth of recent decades. Structures built before the early 1960s are now older than 50 years and could be eligible for listing in the state and national register of historic places. Thornton's Historic Recognition Code provides a mechanism for nominating these structures for local historic designation.
