Telluride Medical Center’s FEAST: Hotel Columbia

07 Mar Telluride Medical Center’s FEAST: Hotel Columbia

Dirk DePagter talks to Kate Wadley about Hotel Columbia's donation to Telluride Medical Center's Feast. See the videocast at the end of this article.

Dirk DePagter remembers Telluride's wild and wooly days of the 1970s. A  master carpenter/contractor back when, he was hired to do the remodel that transformed a shed owned by the Idarado Mining Company into the building that is now the Telluride Medical Center. What remains of his handiwork is the eastern part of today's structure.

Dirk, who became a developer, is now the proud owner of his first hotel: he and his partners purchased the Hotel Columbia from close friends Jim Lincoln and Jeff Campbell in January 2008.

Hotel Columbia has always had one of the best locations in town, adjacent to the Gondola Plaza and walking distance to the heart of town. (According to Dirk, also a local historian, the site was originally where the Rio Grand Southern Railroad's water tower was located.)

In addition to convenience, Hotel Columbia now exudes a quiet elegance. Dirk describes the remodel as "Asian contemporary."

"I felt other venues had cornered the market on replica Victorian and Southwestern  modern and this minimal look perfectly suits the scale of our rooms."

Because Dirk thinks the "clinic" – his throwback name for the Med Center – remains just as important today as it was when one of his close friends shot a nail into his chest, he is generously donating a two-night stay to the online auction of the FEAST or Fund for Expanding and Supporting Telluride's Medical Center.

To learn more, watch the video featuring Med Center's executive director of philanthropy Kate Wadley and Dirk.

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