Just in time for the outset of Historic Preservation Month, on Wednesday, May 24, stakeholders gathered for a ribbon cutting to mark the launch of phase one of the Cardiff Coke Ovens Stabilization Project.
The Cardiff Coke Ovens south of Glenwood Springs were built in the 1880s, but it wasn’t simply an operation where workers processed coal. The townsite of Cardiff was a bustling community with around 400 residents in its heyday, according to the Glenwood Springs Historical Society website.
Of course, it was a company town. The Grand River Coal and Coke Company established the coke ovens, only to transfer them a few years later to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, which had a stronghold over the industry. In 1915, the coke ovens ceased production for good. “The closure caused the decline of the town, little of which is left today,” reads the website.
In the early years following its closure, bricks from the ovens were taken and utilized elsewhere. Then, the elements took their toll and 21st century graffiti made its mark at the historical site. In fact, the site is accounted for on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1998, the historical society acquired a grant from History Colorado-State Historical Fund to create a restoration plan for the 10 ovens it owned at the time. In 2017, the historical society purchased the remaining ovens, totalling 50, but still down from the original 249.
Twenty-five years later, the State Historical Fund stepped up once again to help preserve Cardiff’s legacy with another $35,000 grant for phase one. The City of Glenwood Springs matched $15,000 — the 25% match required for the grant.
According to Project Manager Carolyn Cipperly, archivist for the historical society, phase one will entail reducing vegetation at the south part of the site, reseeding areas with native grass and wildflowers, installing an informational sign, graffiti removal (as approved by the State Historical Fund), the installation of caution signage and a “buck-and-rail fence beyond the oven tops to deter folks from walking on them.”
The City was granted $140,000 through the Garfield County Federal Mineral Lease District for “planning and construction of parking, an ADA [American with Disabilities Act] ramp, new stairs, an exhibit area for the equipment from the original mill — located to the north of the site — and a hard surface placed on the path in front of the dozen southern ovens,” shared Cipperly. “This work is tied to the South Bridge project, so exact timing is hard to say,” she added.
The city and the county each committed $50,000 and the excess funds are earmarked to match a grant for phase two of the project. The historical society intends to apply for a second grant through the State Historic Fund for phase two.
However, this time, “We will be applying for a general competitive grant for the next work, not the mini-grant. That dollar amount will be significantly higher,” Cipperly stated, “and we have matching funds set aside for at least most of that grant.”
Phase two is to include: vegetation mitigation for the remainder of the site, reseeding, “working with masonry professionals to rebuild the brick archways of the most significant ovens, affixing hog-panel grates to the arched openings, and installing clear hole covers to the roof openings, so those will be further protected,” she continued.
Cipperly shared the trivia that apparently John Osgood, the coal-tycoon and founder of Redstone, was involved in the building of the ovens at Cardiff as well.
“For folks who know of the Cardiff site and those who don’t yet, come on by and enjoy the connection with our mining history, railroads of our region, immigrant stories and those curious brick igloos in a row by the airport,” concluded Cipperly.