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Cortez City Council Nominates Old City Hall For Listing On The City Register of Historic Structures

City of Cortez

The Cortez City Council agreed Tuesday to nominate the old City Hall at 210 East Main Street for listing on the City Register of Historic Structures. The city wants to sell the building when it moves into its new City Hall, the former home of the Cortez Journal. The old edifice was reportedly erected in 1935 and added onto in 1955. Over the years, parts of it were used for a museum, jail, library, and fire department headquarters. The chair of the city’s Historic Preservation Board, Linda Towle, told the council an advantage of the listing would be that if a nonprofit bought the structure, it could apply for state grants, while a private owner could apply for state tax credits. She said the designation is honorary and there is no penalty for non-compliance with historic-preservation guidelines.

At least 52 workers have been laid off at the San Juan Mine in northern New Mexico, which provides coal for the San Juan Generating Station. The Farmington Daily-Times reports stricter environmental regulations are the reason. The Daily-Times says the mine used to supply more than 6 million tons of coal annually to the power plant but now plans to deliver half as much coal. In order to comply with federal haze regulations, the power plant has shut down two of its four generating units.
 

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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