Architect Mark Jones: Reclaiming History

Article by Marcia Darnell

Historic Renovation – March 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

IF THERE’S A RENOVATION PROJECT in the works in the San Luis Valley, chances are Mark Jones is involved. The Del Norte architect is in the vanguard of a movement to save the Valley’s historical buildings from the fatal effects of time and neglect.

“There’s a lot of historical building infrastructure around the Valley that has survived, partly because people may have cared, partly because there hasn’t been so much new development that things got torn down and replaced. So there are a lot of wonderful buildings from the last two decades of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century,” Jones says. “But a lot of them have gotten into pretty bad shape and are in danger of being lost.”

[Mark Jones at the Windsor Hotel in Del Norte]

Jones is working with several preservation groups to save these buildings and the history they represent from being lost and forgotten.

His current projects include the Creede D&RGW Railroad depot, Monte Vista cemetery chapel, San Rafael church in Mogote, the Palace Hotel in Antonito, La Iglesia de La Garita (a.k.a. La Capilla de San Juan Bautista), and the recently completed Rio Grande Hotel in Creede.

But his biggest project is the restoration of the Windsor Hotel in Del Norte. The Windsor Hotel was built in 1874, with additions constructed between 1884 and 1892, totalling 23,000 square feet. The hotel provided rooms to traveling men and included shops, offices, a pool hall, and a saloon. At times it housed the local post office and the newspaper, The Del Norte Prospector.

The decline began in 1977, when the Windsor was sold to a succession of owners who failed to make the building profitable. It was in use until the mid-1980s, when it was abandoned and left to the harsh treatment of Mother Nature.

By the time a local restoration association took over, the hotel was in critical condition. The roof had collapsed in places, leaving the interior vulnerable to snow, rain and wind.

“The old roof was so bad there were literally gaping holes so big you could drive a pickup truck through them,” Jones says. Snow and rain had fallen in, in one room, to form a giant pyramid from the floor up through the roof.

Enter Mark Jones.

A registered architect in Colorado and three other states, Jones holds degrees in architecture and urban planning from the University of Southern California (USC) and UCLA and has years of experience in working with historical buildings around the country.

He served as university architect at USC in the 1990s, then went to Stanford, where he ran the construction and design program, restoring about 30 buildings from the 1890s and early 1900s.

HE AND HIS WIFE, MARYKAY, moved to the San Luis Valley in 1997, and he quickly got involved in historical efforts. Jones formed a partnership with architect Mark Kolb, who died last spring.

“We came here wanting to shift gears into a different lifestyle,” Jones says, “a different work style.” Instead of merely managing a large workforce, as he did at Stanford, Jones is personally involved in his firm’s projects.

“There is a growing recognition in the Valley community as to the importance of these historic resources,” he says. “I think it’s accompanied by a growing appreciation for the history of the Valley, including the cultural history. That is accompanied at the same time, fortunately, by a growing increase in available funding to stabilize and restore buildings, which primarily comes from the state historical fund.”

[Work in Creede started with table-top models]

WHEN A PROJECT BEGINS, Jones and his crew become historical detectives, combing through old records and photographs of the building, to find out what it used to look like and what it was made of, a process he calls “building archeology.” This process follows strict guidelines.

“The historic structure assessment process follows the Secretary of the Interior’s guidelines for the treatment of historic properties, very specific guidelines. We analyze the building from the ground up, look at every aspect from foundations to walls to exterior finishes, interior finishes, windows, doors, roofing, framing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, even the site — the sidewalks, the drainage, landscaping and so on — we assess the condition of each item and we look at how true that particular item is to the original.

“We use analytical techniques to find out what’s original, what isn’t original,” Jones says. “Part of that comes from knowing what kinds of materials and techniques were used at that particular time, in that particular area.

“From that we come up with a series of recommendations about what work needs to be done to restore the building, and we prioritize those in order of importance, then we develop budgets for what each of those will take.”

Stabilization comes first, the roofing, foundations, structural issues.

“It does you no good to be repainting the inside if the foundation’s falling down, and water’s coming through the roof,” Jones points out.

Next comes physical investigation, meaning the architects go through the building, measuring, photographing and taking samples.

“We’re in the crawlspace and in the attic and on the roof, scraping off bits and pieces of things which we analyze,” Jones says.

Then comes archival investigation. A photo of the church in Mogote, for example, shows a chimney in a different spot in the 1920s than it is now, and shows what colors, and therefore what materials, were in use. And oral histories also help fill in the gaps left by time.

Sometimes this historical detective work leads to interesting finds.

“We did the Rio Grande Hotel in Creede, which was built in 1892 at the height of the mining days,” Jones says. “It was primarily a lodging house for railroaders and miners, and we were able to ascertain every aspect of what was in the building, right down to the wallpaper and the paint colors. We did what we call wallpaper archeology.’ We found some little scraps of wallpaper left in some of the crevices and concealed areas which we then moved and steamed apart so we have seven layers of wallpapers that we actually identified and we were able to corroborate those papers with some older people who remembered them.

“We were also able to corroborate a number of other interesting things in that building, such as that there was no plaster on the walls or ceilings. What they did was they took the bare framing boards and they stretched muslin over them and tacked it down — real close, about every inch — then they smeared it with a mixture of wallpaper paste, which was just flour and water, and boric acid and chili powder, and that was the way they did walls in Creede at that time, because they had no plaster, they didn’t have the money.

“The boric acid kept the mice from eating the muslin with the paste on it.

“So the term ‘paper walls’ is the derivative of this.”

In restoring the hotel, the crew put up drywall backing (for fire separation and acoustics), then period wallpaper. Then restored the trim, doors, and floors to their original state.

History is not Jones’ only business. His firm, Mark M. Jones Associates, also does new buildings, renovations and other standard architect fare. He’s involved in the revitalization of one block of Adams Street in downtown Monte Vista, including the restored Fassett Building. He has also presented a plan for revitalizing four square blocks of downtown Alamosa.

Meanwhile, he’s the president of the Windsor Restoration and Historical Association. Suzanne Off, vice president, speaks highly of him.

“I like working with him very much,” she says. “He’s been a shot in the arm for the Windsor Hotel. We were at something of a standstill, and when he came along, things moved forward again.

“We have a great time on the board,” she continues. “The board works well together, and I like him very much as a person.”

SOME STOREFRONTS IN THE HOTEL are already in operation, and plans for the restored building include period businesses, including an 1880s-style restaurant “which will actually have period menu offerings and all of the settings, the flatware, tablecloths and everything,” Jones says.

Restored rooms are to be named after pioneer families of the area, and will contain family antiques and photos. A museum will house rotating displays from the community.

Work is scheduled to be completed next summer, and the association plans to have historian Ruth Marie Colville, now 95, cut the ribbon on opening day. Time, therefore, is precious, as it is in all of Jones’ historical work.

“There is a fairly narrow window of opportunity for many of these buildings that date from before the turn of the century and shortly thereafter,” he says. “Many of them have gotten into fairly serious states of deterioration, and if stabilization is not done in the next few years, they will be lost.”

But Jones is determined to keep that from happening.

“Valley-wide the potential is incredible,” he says. “The richness of the heritage we can restore and make available is remarkable.”

Marcia Darnell has yet to suffer an injury while touring construction sites. She lives in Alamosa.