La Junta’s Plaza Block Building receives Citizens State Bank Award from Colorado Preservation, Inc.

Aerial photo of the Plaza Block Building located at 10 East 1st St La junta, CO
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Colorado Preservation Inc. (CPI)

LA JUNTA, Colo. — The Plaza Block Building in La Junta has received the Citizens State Bank Award from Colorado Preservation, Inc. (CPI), one of the state’s leading preservation honors.

The award was presented May 14, 2026, at CPI’s 42nd Annual Dana Crawford Awards Dinner held at the Denver Art Museum’s Sturm Grand Pavilion.

The Citizens State Bank Award recognizes outstanding achievement in historic preservation across Colorado. This year’s honorees also included Hotel St. Cloud in Cañon City and Evans School in Denver.

CPI described the Plaza Block Building as a notable example of long-term preservation effort and community commitment. Built in 1895, the commercial structure stood vacant and deteriorating for decades and became one of the last remaining physical links to La Junta’s historic downtown corridor.

Rather than being lost to demolition, the building has been stabilized and reactivated through years of local advocacy and organizational collaboration.

The building is now being redeveloped under the stewardship of the Southeast Colorado Creative Partnership (SECCP), a nonprofit focused on strengthening arts, culture, and community development in the Arkansas Valley. Planned uses for the space include short-term housing, a community gathering area, and a commercial kitchen intended to support local entrepreneurship.

CPI recognized the project as an example of how adaptive reuse of historic structures can generate reinvestment in rural communities, framing preservation and community development as complementary goals.

The Dana Crawford Awards are named for the late Dana Crawford, a Denver preservationist widely credited with advancing the economic and cultural value of historic rehabilitation. CPI, founded in 1984, is Colorado’s statewide historic preservation organization providing advocacy, education, outreach, and technical assistance.

The Plaza Block Building in La Junta, Colorado, recipient of the Citizens State Bank Award from Colorado Preservation, Inc. at the 42nd Annual Dana Crawford Awards in Denver on May 14, 2026.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Colorado Preservation Inc. (CPI)

About Southeast Colorado Creative Partnership

The Southeast Colorado Creative Partnership (SECCP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering arts, culture, and community vitality in the Arkansas Valley. SECCP serves as the managing organization for the Plaza Block Building restoration project in La Junta, Colorado.

###