Our View: Should the Luttrell Barn be saved?
Editorial board:
Renee Campbell, newspaper representative
Noelle Leavitt Riley, newspaper representative
Gary Cole, newspaper representative
Shirley Balleck, community member
Gail Severson, community member
Although it’s sad to see the destruction of a landmark, we feel the decay of the Luttrell Barn makes it a huge risk to save.
The $200,000 needed to fix the roof and the other repairs seem quite steep, and we’re scratching our heads if it’s worth it or not.
Granted, the Luttrell Barn was a really neat place at one point, but it now looks as if it’s too far gone. It’s infested with bats and pests, and the roof has major holes in it.
The fact is that it’s been vacant for a long period of time, and with vacancy comes deterioration.
It’s a shame, because Craig desperately needs more venues for weddings, birthdays and celebrations alike.
We’re impressed that the county commissioners held onto $100,000 since 2012 in hopes to save the barn, but the commissioners said recently that the estimated cost of repairs total $200,000.
They further said that if someone is willing to step up and pay for the other half, than there’s hope for the historic barn, which has a fascinating history, so its assumed fate is saddening.
In 1976, Emilyn Young donated the barn to the Moffat County Arts and Humanities Council in hopes that it would be used by artists and performers.
For a while, the barn actually had a theater-type stage upstairs where plays were performed.
For a long time, the Boom Town Players and Black Mountain Theater brought audiences together for entertainment.
After the theatrical legacy dimmed, it often was used for graduation parties and weddings.
As the county waits to see if someone will ante up and fund the remaining $100,000 — commissioners are giving the community until Dec. 15 to step up and help — we’d like to ask an important question:
Is the barn worth being saved?
If its fate is to be torn down, our hopes are that we one day have an events facility where people can celebrate life’s achievements as they once did at the beloved Luttrell Barn.
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