This story began, for me, a few weeks ago… on the morning of May 11, to be exact… during a work session of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners. Two local citizens stood at the back the room, socially distanced from the commissioners, and outlined some difficulties currently facing Archuleta Housing Corporation. First, we heard from the Archuleta Housing interim board president Guiseppe Margiotta. He started off by introducing the person standing next to him: Nicole Holt, the corporation’s executive director.
Here’s Mr. Margiotta:
“I don’t know if you folks know, but we’re approaching our 50th year with Archuleta Housing — affordable housing in this community — and as it works out, we’ve come across some interesting challenges. We’re trying to keep our residents safe and secure, so we’ve come to you, to share some information, with the hope that you might be able to help us out with some of the improvements that are really needed.”
Clearly, Mr. Margiotta and Ms. Holt had come to ask for money — and perhaps, also moral support?
Before we hear more from Ms. Holt, however, I’d like to sketch out the landscape.
Archuleta Housing Corporation may not be a household name, but those of us who live in downtown Pagosa are familiar with the three butter-colored apartment complexes with bright red metal roofs — located just north and just south of Highway 160, within easy walking distance of schools, offices, and businesses. The smallest apartment complex is located at 189 North 7th Street; two larger complexes are at 375 North 5th Street and at 302 South 9th Street. The apartments accommodate 52 low-income families through the federal Section 8 housing program, under which families pay no more than 30% of their monthly income for rent, with any shortfall covered by HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development.)
The corporation also manages the 12-unit Archuleta Housing for the Elderly apartments on South 8th Street, adjacent to Pagosa Springs High School.
Archuleta Housing Corporation should not to be confused with Archuleta County Housing Authority, which operates the Casa de los Arcos subsidized housing on South 8th Street — and will also be managing the Rose Mountain Townhomes low-income housing on Hot Springs Boulevard when those 34 units are completed.
Here’s Ms. Holt, addressing the BOCC:
“As I’m sure you guys remember, Ross Aragon ran the organization for quite some time…” (We will hear from Mr. Aragon tomorrow, in Part Two.)
“And the organization was actually founded by the Catholic Church, at the parish here. So, we’re very proud of our legacy. I came on in May of 2019, and when I came on, it was in an interim period. Ross had resigned in 2015, and when I arrived, things were a little disheveled. It wasn’t, like, a ‘clean handoff’ from Ross to me, so… we’ve really been in the process of getting things cleaned up, getting things organized, and getting our finances straight.
“The buildings are in disrepair, in some ways. But really, not in terrible condition, considering… But we’re in the process of putting together a capital needs campaign, focused first and foremost on the health and safety of our residents.
“The furnaces haven’t been replaced since 1985… so I had an energy assessment done last June, and they said, ‘You guys have a serious issue’…”
For that matter, our entire Pagosa Springs community has a serious issue — a serious lack of housing for low- to moderate-income families and individuals. And to put Archuleta Housing into a certain perspective, the 178 residents who live in its four apartment complexes constitute almost 10% of the total population of the Town of Pagosa Springs, and about 1% of the entire county population.
This is not the first time Pagosa Springs has seen housing challenges, of course. Archuleta Housing Corporation had its start 50 years ago, during some previous challenging times. And those challenges in the early 1970s were in some ways connected to prosperity.
John M. Hudspeth was a major force in the lumber business in the American West during the middle decades of the 20th century. At the time of his death in 1983, the Oregonian estimated Hudspeth’s timber holdings at 1.3 million acres of timber and ranch land. His pine mills had a combined cut of over 1 million feet each day, and his ranches grazed 25,000 cattle.
One of the pine mills was the San Juan Lumber Company, located just outside the Pagosa Springs town limits, at the intersection of Highways 160 and 84. The mill opened in 1958, and when it closed in the late 1970s, the San Juan Lumber Company reportedly employed about 25% of the county’s workers. You could make the case that, without the San Juan Lumber Company’s payroll, Pagosa Springs might have dried up and blown away during the 1960s.
John Hudspeth’s activities in his business and personal life were the stuff of legend. His passion for businesses, gambling, aircraft, and fast cars was boundless. He was continually under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service after the 1950s. Reportedly, Hudspeth relished his conflict with the federal authorities, and viewed his tax troubles as a high-stakes poker game.
Something happened to the San Juan Lumber Company between 1958 and 1965. Not sure what it was, but it appears that the mill closed down for a period of time. (Tax problems?)
In January 1965, the Durango Herald ran a story about John Hudspeth’s son, Ron. It read, in part:
Ron Hudspeth, of San Juan Lumber Co., has announced plans to reopen and expand the mill at Pagosa Springs. … Hudspeth said he hopes to have the mill going on a one-shift basis by March 1, and on a two shift basis by April 10, depending on weather…
The reopening and expansion of the mill, in 1965, promised a fresh wave of prosperity in Archuleta County. It also promised to create a pressing need for workforce housing.
Enter, stage left, the Catholic Church organizers of Archuleta Housing Corporation.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.