In a 6-1 vote late Monday night, the Pueblo City Council approved a local historic landmark designation for the City Park Bathhouse, closing a yearlong and often contentious process that tested the city’s commitment to historic preservation. For supporters, the decision was less about winning a political argument than affirming a principle that Pueblo’s past deserves care, caution and thoughtful stewardship.

The vote followed months of public hearings, commission reviews and community debate, much of it overshadowed by vocal opposition from Mayor Heather Graham, who repeatedly questioned the value of preserving the structure and framed the designation as a barrier to redevelopment. Despite that pressure, a majority of council members ultimately sided with preservation advocates, signaling that safeguarding historic resources remains a civic responsibility rather than an inconvenience.

Before the vote was taken, Beritt Odom, the city’s director of Planning and Community Development, presented the staff report to council. Odom reaffirmed that the City Park Bathhouse met the established criteria for local historic landmark designation, citing its age, integrity and association with the Works Progress Administration. Her presentation underscored that the recommendation before council was grounded in adopted preservation standards and professional review.

The bathhouse, located within City Park, was constructed during the Great Depression as part of the federal government’s expansive public works response to economic collapse. While modest in scale, the building represents a defining era in Pueblo’s history, when investment in public infrastructure served both immediate human needs and long-term community resilience.

A product of the New Deal

The City Park Bathhouse was built under the Works Progress Administration, the largest federal relief program of the New Deal era. Created in 1935, the WPA put millions of unemployed Americans to work constructing roads, bridges, schools, parks and civic buildings across the country. In Colorado, and particularly in Pueblo, the program left a visible and enduring imprint.

Pueblo, a steel and rail town already struggling before the Depression deepened, benefited from WPA investment in public spaces and essential infrastructure. The bathhouse was part of that effort, providing jobs for local workers while serving residents who relied on City Park as a central gathering place during the city’s long summer months.

WPA construction emphasized labor-intensive methods, favoring craftsmanship over speed and durability over novelty. Buildings from this era were designed to last, using solid masonry, restrained detailing and functional layouts that balanced economy with civic pride. Preservation advocates argued that the bathhouse exemplifies those values and remains structurally viable when properly maintained.

A long road to designation

The path to landmark designation was neither quick nor simple. Over the past year, the proposal moved through the Pueblo Historic Preservation Commission, public hearings and multiple rounds of council discussion. Supporters cited the bathhouse’s historical significance, architectural integrity and association with the WPA, while opponents raised concerns about maintenance costs, future use and redevelopment flexibility.

Throughout the process, preservation advocates stressed that local landmark designation does not freeze a building in time. Instead, it establishes a review framework to ensure that any future alterations are deliberate, transparent and consistent with preservation standards.

Trusted voices for preservation

Central to the landmark effort were two long-time preservation advocates whose credibility shaped the debate, George Koncilja and Laurel Campbell.

Koncilja, who addressed council members ahead of the vote, has played key roles in advocating for the preservation and adaptive reuse of major historic properties in Pueblo, including the Pueblo Union Depot and, more recently, the Old St. Patrick’s Church. In his remarks, Koncilja thanked council members for the opportunity to designate the bathhouse, emphasizing that landmark status provides a framework for care rather than an obstacle to future planning.

Campbell, widely recognized for her advocacy on behalf of the Goodnight Barn, delivered an emotional appeal urging council members to proceed with “care and caution.” She reminded officials that Pueblo has lost many historic structures not because they were beyond repair, but because maintaining them required patience and long-term thinking.

The examples referenced by Koncilja and Campbell were not presented as architectural comparisons to the bathhouse. Instead, they served as evidence of the advocates’ consistent preservation philosophy and their belief that historic buildings, when properly maintained, can continue to serve their communities for generations.

Preservation versus demolition

Throughout the debate, a recurring theme emerged, Pueblo does not suffer from a lack of historic assets. It suffers from a tendency to view older structures as disposable when faced with maintenance challenges or redevelopment pressure.

Preservation advocates argued that demolition carries hidden costs, environmental waste, loss of embodied energy and the permanent erasure of community memory. In contrast, maintaining historic structures preserves tangible connections to shared experiences, generations of families using City Park and gathering in public spaces shaped by earlier civic investment.

Across the country, cities have increasingly recognized that historic preservation can support economic development, tourism and neighborhood identity. While each project carries unique challenges, advocates maintained that the City Park Bathhouse deserves the same level of deliberation applied to other community assets.

A signal of intent

The council’s 6-1 vote does not determine the bathhouse’s future use, nor does it mandate immediate restoration. What it does establish is a commitment to deliberation. Any proposed changes to the structure will now require public review and professional evaluation, ensuring that decisions are made with full awareness of the building’s historic value.

For preservation supporters, the vote represented a rare moment of alignment between policy and principle. In choosing designation, council members affirmed that history is not an obstacle to progress, but a foundation for it.

As Pueblo continues to navigate growth, reinvestment and identity, the City Park Bathhouse now stands protected, not as a relic, but as a reminder that buildings can outlast political cycles, that care requires patience, and that the stories embedded in stone and mortar are worth preserving for those who come next.

Gregory Howell

Storyteller, curator and creative economy consultant, Gregory made his way to Pueblo via Tokyo to join a team of innovative physicians in the launch of a network of medical clinics in Colorado and Texas. Shortly after arriving in Pueblo, Gregory immediately realized the powerful and yet untold story of the new creative economy in one of America’s great industrial landscapes which was once dominated by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company and the Nuckolls Packing Company. Over the years he has lectured extensively on the history, culture and the arts of Pueblo and is a strong advocate for adaptive reuse of historic properties, economic redevelopment and tourism. Currently you can find Gregory on the CSU Pueblo campus in the Media & Entertainment Department where he serves as an Adjunct Faculty teaching public relations, managing creative talent, and brands and advertising. When not in Pueblo, Gregory is most often lecturing and touring in Japan where he shares his lifelong passion for Japan and its people.

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