Pueblo City Council will decide the fate of this historic clubhouse in City Park

The Pueblo Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to save it, while members of the Pueblo Planning and Zoning Commission split their vote 3-3.

A second reading by Pueblo City Council on Sept. 9 will decide whether or not a nearly 90-year-old sandstone clubhouse at the City Park Tennis Complex, 330 South City Park Ave., will be saved from demolition by being designated a local historic landmark.

George Koncilja, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission, has launched a change.org petition titled " Save the Historic City Park Tennis Building from Demolition " to urge Pueblo City Council and Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham to support preserving the clubhouse. The petition had collected 228 signatures as of Aug. 28 and remains active.

"By landmarking this building, it will not only preserve its history for future generations, but it opens the opportunity to receive State Historic Grant Funds. These funds would go toward the much-needed renovation of the existing structure," Koncilja said on the petition's website.

The clubhouse was built at the tail-end of the Great Depression in 1938. Constructed by jobseekers employed through the Works Progress Administration, the building once served as a summer recreation center surrounded by a lighted softball field, wading pool, horseshoe courts and tennis courts.

Today, the clubhouse sits west of the 17 tennis courts at City Park. Despite the clubhouse's eye-catching design and historic significance, Pueblo Parks and Recreation Director Steven Meier previously told the Chieftain it lacks functioning, ADA-accessible restrooms and suffers from a deteriorating foundation.

The City Park Tennis Complex's role in hosting major tournaments like the Colorado High School Activities Association 4A championships has increased the urgency to repair or replace the clubhouse. However, the city's estimated costs to repair it are around $5 million, while the construction costs for a new structure are less than $2 million.

Koncilja told the Chieftain that salvaging the current building and building a modern facility to accommodate large tournaments don't have to be mutually exclusive. He shared a map of three possible locations for the new facility off of the existing clubhouse's property.

Two potential locations for the modern facility sit on the north side and east sides of the tennis complex, while the third sits a few feet away from the existing clubhouse on the west side.

"I believe that the city, if they consider one of those alternative locations, they'll realize that there's monies to be saved by choosing one of those and there's benefits to saving the building," Koncilja told the Chieftain. "The Preservation Commission has shown that the building is historic and worthy of a local designation. It should be preserved for future generations."

While Pueblo City Council unanimously voted to approve an initial reading of the ordinance designating the clubhouse a local landmark as part of a consent agenda on Aug. 26, the final decision will be made in a Sept. 9 vote, according to Haley Sue Robinson, the city's director of public affairs.

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo City Council will decide the fate of this historic clubhouse in City Park