By Cynthia Skeen
On February 8, 2006, the Colorado State Historical Society honored tiny Grace Episcopal Church with the Stephen H. Hart Award for outstanding historic preservation during a ceremony at the Colorado State Historical Museum. The occasion was the opening-night gathering for the annual conference of Colorado Preservation, Inc.
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The congregation, which counts about fifty members and friends in its circle, took on two ambitious projects simultaneously, with the financial help of the Colorado Historical Society's State Historical Fund.
The church announced its intentions to the town in 2002 with a Fourth of July parade float that sported the slogan, "Sinners Repaint." And repaint it did! The formerly green church building is now taupe with red trim, and the roof is now coated with a black sealant.
Workers fitted the arched windows with storm windows, and they blew insulation into the side wall, so that candles no longer flicker during the church service.They also restored the deck and stairs on the back of the church so that now there are two exits from the wooden building. And the unique free-standing bell tower was stabilized by repairing the rotting foundation beams.
Though the refurbishing of the church building, a recognized historic landmark, was important, the results of the second project are much more noticeable. In 1999 the church congregation, along with other interested members of the community, formed the Grace Episcopal Church of Georgetown Foundation, which then purchased the adjacent building at 414 Taos Street. Local attorney John McMurdy built the structure as office space in 1869; later occupants used it at various times as a shop and as a residence. Known as the Snetzer Building to history buffs and as Mrs. McAdams' house to residents from the '50s, this building had been virtually abandoned for thirty years. The Foundation decided to use the front part of the downstairs as a parish hall and the remainder of the building as two apartments that would provide income for servicing the mortgage.
The Foundation achieved the first phase of the restoration project, that of making the building habitable, without help from the State Historical Fund. For the exterior rehabilitation, however, the group received a grant from the Fund that covered 90% of the cost. The stucco siding, which had been installed in the mid-fifties, was removed from the original part of the building. Beneath the stucco appeared the original red lap siding and a historic sign, "J. Snetzer Merchant Tailor." Workers re-built the nineteenth-century facade and re-installed a wooden porch. The project turned the building, long an eyesore, into one of the finest attractions on Taos Street. Historic Georgetown, Inc., joins with the State Historical Fund in congratulating the congregation and the Foundation for their ambition, tenacity, and accomplishments.