The Thompson House Museum has been closed to the public all summer, due to structural problems. Estimated cost to fix the problems: about $1 million according to Sue Gray, the Carbondale Historical Society’s museum director. The Sopris Sun put the following questions to Gray via email. Here are her responses, which in some cases are paraphrased or edited.
Question, Sopris Sun: When were the problems first noticed?
Answer, Sue Gray: The problems were first noticed when the house was assessed after the Town of Carbondale took possession in 2012. Some of the structural issues with an exterior wall were repaired in 2017 with a Colorado History grant.
Q, Structural problems?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you describe the problem?
A: The beams holding up the second floor are failing. The house was built as a one-story structure in 1887; the second story was added in the 1890s. The sagging beams are causing stress on the first-floor ceiling, and the first and second floor walls, creating cracked and crumbling plaster and tearing the historic wallpaper.
Q: Going back to 2012, how have the cost estimates increased?
A: Estimates when the problem was first assessed were around $400,000. By 2018 they were $800,000. Now they are running close to $1 million, because of rising materials and labor costs.
Q: When the Thompson House was open did you have regular hours? Tours?
A: When the house was first opened in 2012 there were regular tours on Saturdays. In 2021 and 2022 we started giving tours by appointment.
Q: Why is the house/museum closed?
A: Structural issues make it dangerous to allow people inside. We closed the upstairs to tours in 2016, because the weight of people walking up there was adding stress to the beams.
Q: Has the house been inspected by a structural engineer?
A: Yes, and plans for the repair have already been produced and bid on.
Q: Can the house be partially fixed to reopen?
A: No, the procedure will be highly invasive and require the house to be emptied of all furniture and artifacts before construction begins, so it wouldn’t make sense to do it in phases. Part of the cost of the project is packing up everything in the house, storing it for the duration of the repair and then putting it all back. Most grants don’t cover the moving cost, just the construction, so the Carbondale Historical Society, which owns the contents of the house, would be responsible for the cost of moving and storing the content, estimated to be over $100,000.
Q: How will the museum pay for repairs?
A: The Town owns the house, not the Carbondale Historical Society, which runs the museum. The most likely way to fund the repairs is with a historic restoration grant, which the Town and historical society have been actively seeking for many years. The problem has been that none of the available grants cover the entire cost of repair, so several grants as well as a public funding campaign would be required. Because of time and budget constraints on both the Town and the Carbondale Historical Society, there has never been a coordinated effort to make that happen.
Q: Will you do GoFundMe stuff?
A: Yes, possibly.
Q: What grants are available?
A: We learned last year of a new funding source stemming from the Highway Infrastructure Program* that applies to historic structures along Colorado’s Scenic Byways. The Thompson House qualifies because it is located on the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway. The grants can be upward of $1 million, so that would cover the entire cost of repairs. I’m working with the historical society, Town of Carbondale, and the West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway Steering Committee to apply for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration grant to be awarded in 2024. The West Elk Scenic Byway and Historic Byway Steering Committee recently adopted new language in their Corridor Management Plan to include the historic Thompson House as a site on the byway that needs funding.
*The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328), enacted in 2022, appropriated $20 million in Highway Infrastructure Program funds for the National Scenic Byways Program under 23 U.S.C. 162. In April 2023, the Federal Highway Administration awarded $21.8 million to 33 byway projects in 29 states; it received 166 applications.
Q: Anything else you want to add?
A: The best way for the public to help preserve the Thompson House is to support the Carbondale Historical Society, either by donations, becoming a member, a volunteer, or joining the board of directors. With more public support, the Carbondale Historical Society would be able to better direct its efforts to preserve the house, its contents and running the museum when it reopens.
Visit the website (www.carbondalehistory.org) to donate/become a member. People can also email info@carbondalehistory.org to volunteer or apply to the board.
Sue Gray points out one of many cracks in the historic Thompson House walls. The cracks are not only damaging the walls, but ripping the original wallpaper as well. Photo by Lynn “Jake” Burton
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