Red Cliff is raising funds to save old town hall, built in 1887, which is at risk of crumbling

The town of Red Cliff is calling on the broader community to help save one of Eagle County’s most historically significant buildings: the old town hall and firehouse, built in 1887 and listed as one of the state’s most endangered places.

For generations, the building served as a hub of civic and communal life in Red Cliff. It functioned as a town hall, fire station, dance hall and celebration venue, day care facility, and even a jail — where the original bars remain. Today, its only use is storage, though relics of its past remain inside, including original firefighting equipment and the old fire bell, still mounted at the top of the structure.

“The old town hall and firehouse are not just buildings — they are the heart of Red Cliff’s story,” said Town Administrator Melissa Matthews, a 15-year resident. “Preserving this site ensures that future generations can connect with the town’s unique history and cultural heritage.”

Red Cliff resident Kristina Finamore has been working alongside Matthews in recent years to support preservation planning and build community awareness. She said the old town hall is one of the few remaining historic structures still publicly owned by the town, and Red Cliff’s long-term dream would be to restore the building and reopen it to the public.

“Our end goal is to turn it into a museum where people can come and learn about the history of Red Cliff, the history of Eagle County, the mining history of this area — and just save those forgotten stories,” Finamore said. “We would really love to save it, restore it, keep it as historically accurate as possible, but also up to code with current building regulations so we can open it to the public.”

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Finamore said the building still contains items that haven’t been touched in decades.

“There’s really old firefighting equipment in there and all kinds of other stuff that’s just collecting dust,” she said.

The first significant step, she said, will be bringing in a structural engineering firm to conduct an assessment and begin stabilizing the building.

“Getting it open to the public and actually used as a museum is going to be the real challenge,” she said.

To move that work forward, the town has launched a year-end fundraising campaign with a $500,000 online goal — an amount that would meet the typical 25% match required for state and federal historic preservation grants. Total restoration costs are estimated between $1.5 and $2 million.

Grant funding alone could stretch the project over five to 10 years, because most awards cap at around $250,000 annually and competition is high. A phased approach would also increase costs due to ongoing inflation, repeated contractor mobilizations and segmented scopes of work. Meanwhile, several structural components of the old town hall and firehouse are already at risk of failing.

“The building cannot wait that long,” Matthews said.

The town needs $17,000 in immediate matching funds for a current grant application — a small portion of the roughly $250,000 it may need to match future grants.

Finamore said that the broader Vail Valley community has a long history of stepping forward to protect historical, cultural and environmental assets when they’re threatened, and she hopes residents throughout the region recognize the significance of preserving the building, which she called a cornerstone of Eagle County’s origin story.

“We would hate to see this building just crumble to the ground,” she said.

Town leaders say major private gifts could significantly accelerate the timeline. If community fundraising surpasses $1 million, a large portion of the restoration could begin immediately, reducing costs and increasing the chances of saving the building before additional deterioration occurs.

Donations can be made online at tinyurl.com/RColdtownhall or mailed to Town of Red Cliff, PO Box 40, Red Cliff, CO 81649.