Last week, the Far View Center in Mesa Verde National Park landed on Colorado Preservation Inc.’s most endangered places list and we’re delighted. This designation elevates awareness to the circular building’s importance, which we hope will attract real funding from Congress and elsewhere.
Built in 1967, this beauty is architecturally significant as it combines mid-century modern design and references to kivas from Ancestral Pueblo people. Tricky to capture stylish design elements from that time with a look that is culturally right on, blends into the landscape and eerily seems to float above it.
We don’t know whether Colorado architects Joseph and Louise Marlow earned awards for the 10,500-square-foot Far View Center with its wraparound walkway and south-facing wall of glass that brings in the colors of the mesas and canyons, as well as the sheer scale and grandeur of the park. But the Marlows’ creation is certainly worthy of recognition.
These days, we take for granted driving into a national park and pulling up to a visitor center to get oriented. This concept took hold in the ’50s and ’60s to enhance the visitor experience with interpretive programs, maps and timelines, and – most important – stories about the people who lived there. And, well, maybe a gift shop, too. Compare visitor centers around the country – the Far View Center was a standout.
Now, the center’s only occupants are mice. A lot of them. Uses for the center, out of commission since about 2013, were suggested over the years. But an old dwelling is tough to renovate, while keeping its character intact. As reported in The Journal and The Durango Herald, in 2020, an engineering firm considered work needed to bring it up to accessibility and energy-efficiency standards. An estimated cost was not available. In 2018, a rehabilitation study estimated costs at $3.3 million. The Far View Center was reported to be structurally in good shape. Great news here.
As the park’s planning gets going, the public process will be posted along with the opportunity to comment.
Once the building is rehabilitated, ideas suggested for its use include a Native American cultural center, museum, performance hall, school, office complex, restaurant, lodging, archaeology research center, conference hall, theater or employee lodging.
Our first choice would be something for Southwest tribes that trace their ancestry to Pueblo people. And we’d like them to have the most weight in the decision.
We’re also asking our U.S. and state representatives and senators to give attention to this project. Ben Stout, communications director for U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, said the congresswoman feels the Far View Center is one of the 3rd Congressional District’s treasures and she’ll review possible ways to support the park.
The Far View Center’s careful design fits so well inside sacred Mesa Verde – we want something thoughtful and the substantial funding it takes to make that a reality.
