Sidebar by Ed Quillen
St. Elmo – June 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
The town hall and jail in St. Elmo, along with outbuildings and several other historic structures, were destroyed by fire on April 15.
What happens next is still up in the air, according to Melanie Milam-Roth of Nathrop, whose family owned several of the destroyed buildings — the town hall and jail were owned by the St. Elmo Property Owners Association.
There was no insurance on the structures, she said, so rebuilding or reconstruction is not in any plans yet. “We are hoping to get a grant from the Colorado Historical Society to perform some archæological assessment work on the building sites this summer, to look for artifacts and to learn about the buildings that were on those sites before the ones that burned down. As long as those sites are exposed, we ought to learn what we can — that’s about the only silver lining in this.”
A fund has been established to help St. Elmo recover from the fire, and checks made out to the St. Elmo Fire Restoration Fund are welcome at the Buena Vista Heritage Museum, P.O. Box 1414, Buena Vista CO 81211.
“The fund will be used for St. Elmo,” she said, “although we’re not sure how yet. One possibility is for interpretive signs and exhibits.”
–E.Q.
