The Colorado Springs Planning Commission on Wednesday nudged the city a few steps closer to a whole cloth remake of the 26-plus acre historic Union Printers Home property.

The commission voted 7-0 approving a series of recommendations that could pave the way for a project that – if city leaders follow suit — likely will take at least a generation to see to fruition, and could significantly alter the space and skyline of the southern Front Range.

Much of the presentation at Wednesday’s meeting focused on building heights, and an adjustment to city codes that would allow for taller construction — 160 feet, versus the current limit of 65 feet.

“We are trying to preserve that view corridor from the castle that is a critical part of this development,” said Gabe Sevigny, planning supervisor for the city.

Recovering the Castle: Union Printers Home in Colorado Springs poised for epic sequel

A monument to the working class, and the fulfillment of a promise to members of one of the world’s largest and most powerful trade unions, the facility was among the earliest and grandest of its kind when it opened in May 1892.

In a “meta” statement about its impact, as well as the union’s power to drive popular discourse, the grand opening made headlines in almost every major U.S. newspaper.

A bound, almost-half-foot-tall stack of tearsheets of those articles was among the many relics recovered intact but water-damaged in the abandoned main Union Printers Home building after the new owners could get in.

“We realized early on that not only did we buy the property and the buildings. We also inherited the history of the typographical union,” said Susan Pattee, one of six local partners who own the property. 

And that’s a history they plan to honor fully, by saving what they can of the past and laying the groundwork for the future.

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