Mancos’s historic print and design studio will be expanding this spring. This will double its workshop capacity, as well as address housing shortages.
“So what I’m doing is I’m operating the Chandler & Price platen press,” said Rosie Carter, shop manager at the Mancos Common Press. “And this press prints with sort of a clamshell motion. So your form, which would be your tape and your imagery, gets compressed against your paper, kind of like a clamshell, closing on itself.”
The Mancos Times used to print from the Press, but it was shut down in 1970.
With funding from the University of Pennsylvania, the Ballantine Family Fund, and the Colorado State Historical Fund the Press was rehabilitated as an educational printing studio. The Press is currently managed by a dedicated group of community volunteers.
“I mean these presses are like – they’re a little bit magical,” Carter said. “People come in here, and just the mechanics of it and the old – it’s a little bit steampunk in here. This is all old equipment. Yeah. People really – it’s amazing to see people’s eyes just, like, grow wide when they see all this stuff in here.”
The Press has a stunning collection of artwork by local artists.
In one corner of the art space, there’s a print of wildflowers done by artist Cynthia Sadler.
In another, there’s a small-scale model made out of wood that hints at the future Carter and others involved in the Press hope will soon come to fruition.
It’s a rendering of the Mancos Commons, an almost 4,000 square foot, two-story mixed-use development including three single-bedroom affordable housing units, a large workshop space for the Common Press as well as some retail and office space.
“So what our intention is is that it would be workforce housing, so whether that’s artists, school teachers, any other folks that (are) in the service sector, that are having a really hard time (finding) affording housing right now, rental housing in the market,” said Tami Graham, president of the Mancos Common Press board.
Mancos, Colorado’s largest town, is experiencing difficulty in providing affordable housing. Graham said that this should concern everyone in Mancos.
“We’re risking losing access to average folks who work and function in our community, and without projects like this one, we won’t continue to have a core of a workforce in our communities,” Graham said. “That is what makes up our communities. This is among other things. I mean, the richness of a community is having a wide spectrum of community members living and working in our communities.”
The concern over that potential loss of community diversity is shared by Heather Alvarez, Mancos’s town administrator.
“From the community side, housing in Mancos is impossible to find, especially rental units,” Alvarez said. “When you can find them, many times people that are working locally are priced out of the market, because we are seeing more people from outside of town moving into town.”
According to Zillow’s estimates, Mancos has a median home value of $479,000. This compares to $348,000.
“Our mayor, for example, had a water leak in her house – could not find anywhere to rent,” Alvarez said. “For months, she lived in the local motel, because there was nothing available. It’s – so that’s how the town started to have the discussions and get involved in, not only our staff, our town staff, but school staff, nursing home staff, no place to rent or even can afford to purchase. My town clerk is here over a year now and can’t find anything she can afford. With two kids and college coming up.”
For Carter, it’s not just about housing, it’s about keeping Mancos a diverse and vibrant community.
“And when things get too expensive, that means a whole big group of people can’t afford to stay, which just makes places less diverse, less interesting, in my opinion, and really, you know, less – less caring, really, in a way, if we can’t figure out ways to affordably house people, feed people, take care of people,” she said. “So I think it’s really important what the Press is up to with this project.”
Despite the fact that the project is still active in raising funds, Mancos Commons will likely break ground in May/June of this year.
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