Mancos

Month Year visit:  Sunday, March 19, 2023 - lunch + afternoon

Small Town Vibe blog link:  Mancos, CO: a small town at the intersection of Art & Adventure (smalltownvibe.org) 

Observations: We had identified Mancos as a place we wanted to stop on our spring break trip based partially out of Durango (another awesome small town, population just under 20K).  Our travel goal was to check out the microbrewery and coffee shop, and cider house if we had time.  Unfortunately, the coffee shop isn't open on Sundays, so we stopped by the Mancos Brewing Company first and then Fenceline Cider House 2nd. While at the Fenceline Cider house, there was a community meeting hosted by the Mancos Art District. We didn't know what this was but could sense the energy in the 30-40 people we saw attend.  Later when we walked around and finally drove around the downtown area, we noticed several references to community art, including an art co-op, local art vending machines... and local public art in the form of several colorful building murals.  We also saw a reference to a Makers Space, which we know is a community tool to provide access to creative equipment and space for creation. We see them associated with education and some bigger cities, so we were intrigued to see one available in a small town of 1200 people.

We were honestly impressed with the community engagement, downtown buildings and businesses we saw.

• Sept.12, 2022: Six New Community Revitalization awards provide Community Arts Spaces Across Colorado (source: Colorado.gov - Office of Economic Development & International Trade) to Mancos Commons awarded $1.3M.

  • Mancos Common Press (MCP) was formed in 2013 to establish a center dedicated to the printer’s art while restoring and reusing the historic Mancos Times-Tribune Building as a community-based facility for students and graphics artists. In addition to the restoration of the building, a core component of MCP’s strategic plan has been to create additional space for workshops, retail sales, residential and office space. The new Mancos Commons building will be located at 129 W. Grand Avenue in downtown Mancos and adjacent to the existing MCP building. The building will be a 4,000 square foot, two-story mixed-use development including three single-bedroom affordable housing units, large workshop space, and retail and office space. A pocket park will provide a casual and welcoming outdoor community gathering space, in alignment with the vision of creating a “commons” area, where all feel welcome. 

• 2022: (source: Town of Mancos Economic Development at choosemancos.com) - Room to Grow | Support to Succeed

• Oct.21, 2021:  Mancos businesses awareded grants for building upgrades (source: The Journal) - town of Mancos awarded $458K grant from the CO Department of Local Affairs to improve the downtown business district. Focus is on facade and energy-efficient upgrades (per Rachael Marchbanks, Economic development coordinator)

• June, 2019: Town of Mancos, CO Business Development and Economic Growth Strategy (source: RPI Consulting, LLC of Durango, CO)

• March 2018: Western Vision: Mancos Weaves Heritage and Innovation (source:  Special Report: Colorado Certified Creative Districts)

  • In southwestern Colorado, the Mancos Creative District aims to reinvent its small town's economy by balancing regional traditions with outside-of-the-box thinking.

• April 2016: Mancos pursues affordable housing for artists (source:  Durango Herald) - Mancos officials are pursuing a project that might bring affordable housing for artists to town.  The Space to Create program aims to construct affordable housing for artists and other creatives in Colorado communities. It’s funded by Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), the Department of Local Affairs and the Boettcher Foundation

• 2014: (source: CU Denver) Mancos Grant Avenue downtown Visioning Study - initiated by the Town Administrator in an effort to continue momentum for economic development in town and to begin a dialogue of beautification within the downtown core 

• 2006: (source: CU Denver) Mancos Public Library - created site analysis, floor plan and elevation documents for the renovation of Mancos public library