BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION
Name Auraria Relocation Title Collection, 1969 Extant 1 box, 11 folders (.25 linear feet) Historical note Auraria in 1969 was declared as urban renewal area by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD allocated $12.3 million to buy and clear the 169-acre site, which would be used as the combined campus for Metropolitan State College (MSC), Community College of Denver (CCD), and the University of Colorado Extension Center. On November 4, Denver voters passed a $6 million bond issue. Prior to the election, some Auraria residents tried to convince the Denver Urban Renewal Authority to reconsider other sites for the campus. Scope and contents Includes reports from the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) on relocation surveys, benefits available to families and businesses targeted for relocation, an official report to the city on the Auraria Project and Relocation, an MSC proposal for an "Hispano Cultural Complex," minutes from a West Side neighborhood meeting, a report from the Committee to Preserve the West Side Community, and the October 1969 issue of The Westside Reporter. Arrangement Organized chronologically into 11 folders by source: the Denver Urban Renewal Authority or the West Side Community
Auraria Relocation. Collection, 1969. Collection number 25.The Auraria Relocation Records were donated in March 1994 to Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections from a Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) alumnus through the office of Yvonne Flood, Administrative Assistant to the MSCD president. Property rights are held by Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections. Photocopies may be made for purposes of research.
Citation format
Auraria Relocation Collection, 1969. Box #/Folder # Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections Denver, Colorado
The history of Auraria coincides with that of early Denver. The campus was built on the site of a town founded in 1858 by L.J. Russell, a gold prospector leading an expedition from his hometown of Auraria, Georgia. In April 1860, Auraria merged with its rival township, Denver City, founded by William Larimer and this became Denver. Larimer had named his town after General James Denver, the former governor of the Kansas Territory, of which his new town was a part. At the time of the consolidation neither township had legal claim to the area. The land belonged to the Native Americans until the Treaty of Wise of 1861, which allowed the United States to take over most of the land in the Rocky Mountain area.Many of the original residents left after the floods of the 1860s and 1870s and immigrants from northern Europe, especially Germany, moved their homes and businesses into the area. These residents were joined early in the twentieth century by a wave of Hispanic immigrants. By the end of the 1920s, West Denver was a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.
Auraria’s flood history repeated itself in June 1965, during what has been called the worst flood in Denver history. Forty percent of Auraria was under water when the Platte River flooded its banks after a fourteen-inch rainfall. In the aftermath of this disaster, Denver authorized an in-depth study of the Platte River Valley. After the study was published, a redevelopment plan was considered for Auraria. In 1967, the site was chosen by Metropolitan State College and the city of Denver as the location for a college campus.
Of the nineteen sites under consideration, Auraria scored highest on accessibility, traffic circulation, utility service, site planning, and cost. In 1969, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated $12.6 million to be used for land purchase and clearing if Denver provided $6 million. On November 4, Denver voters passed a bond issue for that amount and the city could finance its share of the project.
The two-month campaign prior to the election was marked by controversy surrounding the problem of relocating Auraria residents. Numbers of those residents needing to be relocated vary, but could have included as many as 250 families, 50 individuals, and 247 businesses. The problems were twofold: some West Side residents did not want to move and so actively opposed the bond issue and Denver was experiencing a severe low-cost housing shortage. The records in the Auraria Relocation Collection originated from the controversy of the campaign. Despite the problems, in 1971 the Relocation Act was approved and applied to Auraria residents and by 1972 all had been relocated. Construction began in 1971 and the Auraria campus was completed in 1976.
1965 Metropolitan State College (MSC) opens. 1966 Denver and MSC planners choose Auraria as the permanent location for MSC. 1968 The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approves a $12.3 million proposal for a campus to be shared by MSC, Community College of Denver/Auraria, and the University of Colorado Extension Center. 1969 The General Assembly votes to purchase the 169-acre Auraria plot after HUD, through the Denver Urban Renewal Agency (DURA), declares Auraria an urban renewal area. Denver voters approve a $5.8 million bond issue. 1971 The Auraria Higher Education Center is created by Governor John Love to plan the campus. Construction begins. 1976 Auraria opens when the Community College of Denver moves in. 1977 The Auraria campus is completed.
Box 1 Fd 1 Summary "Relocation of Residents in the Proposed 1969 AURARIA URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT AREA," Denver Urban Renewal Authority Fd 2 Summary "SPECIAL BENEFITS WHICH ARE AVAILABLE TO 1969 FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES RELOCATED FROM URBAN RENEWAL AREAS," Denver Urban Renewal Authority Fd 3 Statement "THE DENVER URBAN RENEWAL’S PARTICIPATION 1969 IN THE AURARIA CENTER CITY COLLEGE COMPLEX SITE," City Council of Denver Fd 4 Report "THE AURARIA PROJECT AND RELOCATION," 1969 Department of Housing and Urban Development Fd 5 Informational Notice "Informational Notice to All Families and n.d. Individuals Living In Model Cities Target Area #1 and #2," Denver Urban Renewal Authority Fd 6 Informational Statement "Informational Statement for Business n.d. Concerns and Other Nonresidential Establishments," Denver Urban Renewal Authority Fd 7 Pamphlet "Vote for Auraria November 4," Citizens 1969 for Auraria Fd 8 Proposal "HISPANO CULTURAL COMPLEX," Metropolitan 1969 State College Fd 9 Minutes From the West Side neighborhood meeting, n.d. anonymous Fd 10 Report "REPORT CONCERNING USE OF THE AURARIA n.d. SECTION OF THE WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR A METRO COLLEGE-COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPLEX," The Committee to Preserve the West Side Community Fd 11 Newspaper WEST SIDE RECORDER 1969