Now that my building renovation is complete, I’m working on being less self-centered….gulp. Moving forward, I’m going to turn my attention away from myself…gulp…and to items in the very impressive collection that I house. Did you know that the Aspen Historical Society (AHS) operates the largest public archive of images, historical papers, maps, and artifact […]
I’m feeling almost like a new Archives Building! Over the past few weeks, the Historical Society has been moving back in–setting up offices and the new community gallery space. Things got really exciting this week when our friends at Olde Towne Moving & Storage brought all the artifacts, maps, documents, photos and archival material back […]
Well, well, well, look who’s all dressed up with no place to go? Me! I am feeling pretty luxurious these days, and it’s not just because the Oscars were on Sunday night. I have been decked out with the most lovely accessories: fine carpeting, pretty dark blue walls and shiny bathroom tile. All the finishing […]
I’m giddy with how good I look! Things are really taking shape, in all the right corners, here at the archive building. First, cabinetry has been installed on all three levels. In the basement, SpaceSavers were put in (twice as many as there used to be) to efficiently store items, documents and artifacts, and this will be our […]
I’m a three-level building. With my renovation, the main floor, aka my torso, will be the community and education space and that’s where most people will spend their time. My top floor, or head, is going to be office space. But sometimes I think what’s happening downstairs in my basement is the coolest. That’s where […]
Brrrr. Does anyone else feel a draft in here? Recently my doors have been wide open and my walls exposed. During this extended summer called fall, it’s been pleasant but the recent temperature drop has me all sorts of happy for my new insulation. Recently the G.F. Woods construction guys have buttoned me up to make […]
It’s election season and everyone is putting up walls, including the G.F. Woods Construction guys. But unlike the metaphorical walls going up around the country, mine are the good kind. And I don’t discriminate either, I like all types of walls! The wall with the cinderblocks is called a Concrete Masonry Unit wall — CMU […]
I basically won the popularity contest of archives buildings last week when nearly 75 people showed up for our “groundbreaking” ceremony. It actually should have been called a wall-breaking ceremony, since my shell isn’t going anywhere, but my insides are getting the makeover. People walked all over my floor, drew on my paint and took hammers […]
You know that feeling after Thanksgiving dinner when you’ve eaten five helpings of food but then can’t really move off of the couch? It was all worth it, and delicious, but things are … tight. That’s how I felt at the Aspen Historical Society, until recently. See, I’m the archive building. I sit behind that giant brick mansion […]
Aspen’s first tax-generating business was not mining, freighting, dry goods or even saloons; it was prostitution. The City of Aspen ordinances adopted in 1880 set aside a special area near the railroad depot for cribs and “female lodging” in order to confine the “trade” to a few blocks and to keep tabs on the disreputable […]