Celebrate Historic Preservation Month in Downtown Rock Springs
May is National Historic Preservation Month and the community is invited to celebrate it in Downtown Rock Springs. The Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency (URA), Certified Local Government (CLG) and Rock Springs Historical Museum are hosting several events and activities to draw attention to local historic preservation efforts.
One such event is a Historic Scavenger Hunt that will run the month of May. Scavenger hunt forms can be picked up at the Rock Springs Main Street/URA office (603 South Main Street), Rock Springs Historical Museum (201 B Street), or downloaded from DowntownRS.com. Participants can return completed hunts to the Rock Springs Historical Museum for a small gift and chance at a grand prize.
Jennifer Messer, Rock Springs Museum Coordinator, will host a discussion and slideshow on the History of the Lutheran Church in Rock Springs. The discussion will take place on Sunday, May 7 at 10:30 a.m. at the Mount of Olives Lutheran Church, 2916 Foothill Blvd. and is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, May 20 at 11 a.m. archeologist Dave Johnson with Western Archeological Services will provide a guided tour and discussion on the Reliance Tipple. Guests should plan to meet at the tipple and wear clothing appropriate for the outdoors (please note, this tour will be conducted around the perimeter of the Reliance Tipple and will not include access inside the site). The tour will last approximately 1 hour. Dave has been on the CLG for 30+years and has a wealth of knowledge about our region.
Downtown is full of examples of historic preservation from the former Rock Springs City Hall (now the Rock Springs Historic Museum) to the train depot and Bunning Freight Station.
“It helps tie us to our past,” David Tate, member of the Rock Springs Historic Preservation Commission pointed out. “Plus, many of our Downtown buildings are architecturally significant and deserve to be preserved for that reason alone,” Tate added.
Tate said there are benefits of historic preservation.
“It give you a sense of place,” he mentioned. “Also, on the economic side, preservation has shown to have a great return on investment.”
“I think the best way for the community to become involved is to start paying attention to our historic Downtown and appreciate how unique it is – historically and architecturally,” Tate suggested. “They also can contact the Rock Springs Historic Preservation Commission (a committee of the City of Rock Springs) or the National Trust for Historic Preservation if they want to become even more involved.”
Historic Preservation Month began as National Preservation Week in 1973. In 2005, the National Trust extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even greater opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our country’s cities and states.
