08 Feb Telluride Museum presents: “How I Came to Love a Pedestrian Village”
As Telluride looks to a more sustainable future, is every old model new again?
On February 10, 6 p.m., The Telluride Historical Museum presents a lively, invitation only, slide show illustrating the unprecedented 1979 investigation of the gold standard for mountain communities: Zermatt, Switzerland.
In 1978 the Idarado mine, the last dynamic link between the mining town that was and the resort town yet to be, shut down. The ski company had changed hands: Ron Allred became the new Joe Zoline and the county planning process for Mountain Village got underway.
Telluride was a-changin,' but into what was still blowing in the wind.
Developer Walter McClennan and businessman David Fruen, who had just purchased the lobby and the commercial part of the Telluride Lodge (today’s Clark’s Market), cooked up the idea of sending a delegation of 26 locals to check out the model at the time: Zermatt. And along the way, pick up a new watch.
The Telluride Rotary and the New Sheridan Hotel agreed to sponsor the fact-finding trip, open to the first 25 people who could spare the $1,100 for airfare and lodging. The Rotary held a raffle for one free ticket.
In Fall 1979, the mostly 30-something group, including the Allreds, Dick Unruh, TD Smith, John Hopkins, other realtors, the town planner, the director of parking and transportation, and Rudy Davison, then the publisher of the now defunct Telluride Times, embarked on a journey that would ultimately influence the development of our burgeoning extended community.
“It was a party trip, yes, we kept the disco going, but we accomplished a lot too," Davison continued. The trip turned out to have many positive effects on Telluride's growth and that of the ski area and the Mountain Village."
Visit the museum at the top of Fir St., online, or call for further information: Beth Roberts,
Assistant Director, 970-728-3344, X2
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