The Plaza Block project received a Colorado Preservation, Inc. Dana Crawford Award on May 14th, 2026! We are so grateful to have been a part of this amazing project for the community of La Junta. Thanks to an amazing Owner, Design and Contractor team (Summit Sealants) who made this all happen. It took a village!

To give you a sense of the timeline for this project, Jessica and Geoff both worked on the Historic Structure Assessment and Preservation Plan in 2009-2010 while at SlaterPaull Architects.

A notable caveat is that the project paused for many years while the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Southeast Colorado Creative Partnership (SECCP) worked through gathering support for the project and built the first part of their “funding stack”.

When we founded Form+Works in 2017, the Plaza Block project was ready to move forward with their first phase. Understandably, the building had deteriorated further between 2009 and 2017, so some re-strategizing was needed when we got started to determine the right starting point.

Here are some photos from our first site visit:

It probably goes without saying, we had our work cut out for us. Fortunately we had an amazing project team. The Owner team found amazing partners, including Colorado Preservation, Inc., to help with grant applications, tax credits and other funding mechanisms to bring it all together. History Colorado and many other funding partners came together to provide multiple grants for the project.

Here is a short breakdown of the project phasing.

• 2017 Form + Works with our stellar design team (JVA, Inc. (structural engineer), 360 Engineering (mechanical and plumbing engineers) and enLighten Engineering (electrical engineer) completed Design Development Documents
• 2018-2019 the design and construction was completed for emergency shoring, selective demolition, hazardous materials abatement and rehabilitation of the floor framing
• 2019-2021 the masonry rehabilitation started, new footings were installed for the basement columns, framing and sheathing were installed
• 2021-2022 exterior windows, doors and storefronts started. These happened in a few phases with the north windows and storefronts started being rehabilitated and then the south windows and doors. Building systems and interior work started
• 2022 we achieved our first phase of occupancy with the upstairs apartment being put into use as an office. This allowed the first batch of tax credits to be received. A much needed funding stack piece.
• 2022-2026 the rest of the project was completed, working through pieces as grant funding was received. As the interior is nearing completion, the final piece of the project is the parking lot and sidewalks to allow for accessibility into the building

Here are some photos from a few weeks ago:

The concept was always a multi-use building to provide a welcome and visitor’s center, with art gallery space that could be used for multiple types of functions. We laid out several scenarios of how the building could work for formal sit down dinners to events with a speaker up front and audience seating. The SECCP envisioned the building could be used for cooking and art classes, so there is a commercial kitchen and art room with the double doors that could be opened for larger class sizes, expanding into the gallery spaces. The commercial kitchen will provide a key resource in the community of La Junta, with the possibility of being an incubator space for new food service businesses and pop-up events.

The second floor was historically apartments and since housing is such a need everywhere in Colorado. The SECCP saw several potential groups who may want to utilize the housing. We created two, one-bedroom apartments.