Railroad Square - A Gift to the Durango Community and a Guarantee for the D&SNGRR's Future
by Ted Holteen

While the owner of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Allen Harper, is dedicated to preserving history, he is also forward-thinking and determined to create new opportunities that will continue to keep the D&SNGRR and its history alive. This is where Railroad Square Hotel and Conference Center enters the picture.

Mr. Harper recognized a need in the Durango community that no public group has been able to fill for the last 20 years. That need is for a conference and events center - one that will allow large groups to come to Durango and residents to have large gatherings in the area. This multiuse center will open up many opportunities for all members of our community and will also bring an estimated 65,000 new people to the area each year, with 40,000 of them being new train riders.

The project has grown to more than just a proposal for an events center. There is now a plan for a firstclass hotel in addition to a conference and events center. This unique project is directly tied to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which serves nearly 200,000 passengers annually.

The project consists of 220 hotel rooms, a 22,000 square-foot conference center, 10,000 square-feet of retail space, and 20,000 square-feet of office space. The hotel is themed after railroad history, with a restored coal-fired steam locomotive in the middle of the square. Other themed details include the whistle on the engine blowing twice a day in a routine ceremony; service personnel dressed in "Pullman Style" uniforms; and dining room staff in "Harvey House" uniforms from the western railroad's past. The two-story lobby uses architectural features of the "Grand Central Stations" from U.S. history.

Not only will this project provide great benefits to the community, it will draw more large groups to Durango for conferences and events; increase tourism, which is 18% of Durango's overall economy; and provide numerous jobs in the area. Over the years, proposals for this project have all relied upon public support to make it possible and there was no feasible solution. Harper, with financial backing from private sources, is taking on the $72 million project to bring this project to the community.

Above all else, Harper's vision is to continue to find ways to support the railroad so it remains in operation for generations to come. He is hopeful this project will break ground sometime in 2009.