“Dear sir – will you trade your cow for the following trees?”
That’s the start of a half-page letter to a former superintendent of the Union Printers Home. It’s a trade proposal you wouldn’t see today, and a classic illustration of the storied history of the Colorado Springs property.
A sweeping, years-long plan seeks to revitalize the Union Printers Home area, bringing mixed-use development of residential and retail to the site while maintaining the historic relevance and stories that permeate the property.
History of the Union Printers Home
Built in 1892, Union Printers Home served as a convalescent home where members of the International Typographical Union could rest, recover and live in retirement. Looking to capitalize on Colorado Springs’ already existing reputation for healing, Philadelphia businessmen George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel made a $10,000 donation to start the UPH in 1886. Drexel owned the Public Ledger daily newspaper there and would go on to start Drexel University.
Located just east of Memorial Park at what is now the corner of Pikes Peak Avenue and Union Boulevard. (which was named after the home in the 1920s), the site grew from its original 80 acres and 30 residents to a property that spanned more than 300 acres and could house almost 500 residents at once. For its dedication, 10,000 people marched up Pikes Peak Avenue from downtown.
Around 40,000 people lived at Union Printers Home during the time it was open. The graphic designers, marketers and branding experts of their era, printers-turned-residents experienced a home that was virtually self-sufficient by the 1920s, featuring acres of fields and vegetables, hundreds of dairy cows and hogs, and thousands of chickens. Community events, performances and screenings in the downstairs theater meant the home was a gathering space for music, celebrations and holidays for both residents and the wider Colorado Springs community.
“The home is a real monument to unionism, to caring for your trade and fellow people,” says Ellie Hinkle, director of history and archives for the Union Printers Home at Printers Hill. “It’s a positive and loving place.”
Residents had access to over 200 newspapers from around the country to read, from their hometowns or where they had spent their careers. A book of rules given to each resident when they arrived included the guideline that no profane language was allowed except in the rec room. That came to be known as Profanity Hall.
Despite the Great Depression, many buildings on the property were built or upgraded during the 1930s, and some of that art deco style work is viewable today. People still needed news, and the printing industry weathered the Depression’s economic storm relatively well. Annexed into Colorado Springs in 1962, sections of the UPH were sold off over time so that by 1994 the property included 26 acres. The International Typographical Union merged with Communications Workers of America in 1986, which operated the property until 2014. Then it was sold to a private nursing home organization that closed the property in 2020.
Preserving the Property
Six partners bought the property in 2021. Most of them are Colorado Springs natives and have deep connections to the city, including Susan Pattee. They had all driven by hundreds of times, but none of the partners had ever been on the property before. The buildings are recessed from Union Boulevard, making them tough to see from the street.
“We knew it was a cool, mysterious place,” Pattee says. “But once we saw it, it really became ‘This is way too cool to lose.’ We were overwhelmed by just driving up the driveway.”
Less than two months after that first trip, the partners bought Union Printers Home.
“We heard it was potentially going to be sold to someone who would not care about the historic buildings on the property,” Pattee says. “We didn’t have a vision other than saving it at that time.”
Now the vision, called Union Printers Home at Printers Hill, includes plans for hospitality, food and beverage, retail and residential spaces and even a grocery store. The adaptive reuse of the property will blend modern additions to the historic roots, preserving as much as possible while adding needed modern upgrades.
“The more we see projects like this, that do historic preservation, the more it will happen,” Hinkle says. “They create precedents for not just tearing things down, but to revitalize and reuse in a sustainable way.”
There have been dozens of buildings on the property throughout its history. Only four remain: the majestic “castle” building, the south building that was once a hospital, the north building that served as a dormitory and the boiler building. The castle, the first building on the property, is roughly 100,000 square feet.
The challenges faced after the purchase were immediate and daunting. Tunnels, built to access different buildings on the property, were being used by people to break in. Vandalism and theft were severe. The south building had been closed since the mid-’70s. The buildings had accumulated years — in some cases decades — of documents, tools and refuse. Most rooms in the castle had 6 to 8 inches of leftover assorted items covering the floor. That’s where Hinkle came in.
She looked at every piece of paper, every photo, determining whether it was salvageable and useful. Cleaning it out took her and a team of four to 10 people six months of 45-hour work weeks. Papers, photos, scrap metal, and even leftover hospital equipment were saved. Even still, 50 30-yard dumpsters were required to clean house.
“It was a process,” Hinkle says.
A team of six volunteers continues to help Hinkle with archiving, sifting through and digitizing documents — a process that started in 2023.
“It’s such a unique story in so many ways,” she says. “The story of the home is the history of the property, unions, medical care, people, Colorado Springs. There’s so much to learn in what we have.”
A New Vision for Union Printers Home at Printers Hill
International architecture firm Sasaki developed the project’s master plan. The partners have visited places such as downtown Toronto and The Parks at Walter Reed, a mixed-use development in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the former Walter Reed Army Hospital. These trips allowed them to explore how old and new architecture has been blended in different settings.
The plan’s renderings, Hinkle cautions, are just a draft. The architectural style is probably not what the final product will look like. But the sense of space and scale, condensed from the wide-open feeling between the four existing buildings, will allow for the right vibrancy and energy between future spaces, Pattee says.
“We’d like it to simultaneously be a destination and feel integrated in the wider community fabric,” she says.
The partners hope to break ground within the next two to three years and anticipate total construction taking between 15 and 20 years. The project’s next steps include selecting a developer, who will help the partners identify the best progression for the multiple phases of the project. Alongside the varied experiences of the partners, that developer will also be critical to the fundraising part of the puzzle. An anticipated $500 million will be required for the castle, and upwards of $1 billion will be needed for the entire plan. Ongoing processes of rezoning and achieving an urban renewal designation could make additional funding options available.
“We’ll need enthusiasm and excitement from the community, and [a willingness to] embrace new ideas and ways of doing things,” says Pattee. “And there will have to be investment that’s not just from Colorado Springs.”
At its height, the boundaries of the property spanned from Pikes Peak Avenue on the north, Airport Road on the south, Union Boulevard on the west, and Garo Road on the east. The neighborhoods closest to that footprint are important project partners. Those include Hillside, Knob Hill and K-Land, the section of old UPH property at Airport and Circle that featured a K-Mart now turned Planet Fitness.
Property tours and a Planning Advisory Task Force of community leaders provided input for the master plan. A survey asking neighbors what they would like to see in the project has elicited over 500 responses — some excited, some concerned, Hinkle says. One critical point is to include a grocery store, a need in that area of the city.
“What will make the project work is the time and effort the partners have put in to learning what the community wants, meeting with neighborhood leaders,” says Hinkle.
Some families have lived in these neighborhoods for multiple generations, she says.
“It was always a destination, a top employer in the county,” Hinkle says. “It hasn’t been the asset it was, and we want it to be vibrant with lots happening and to be something the community values as a piece of its identity.”
Pawtoberfest 2024, the Humane Society’s annual fundraiser, took place at Printer’s Hill. Pattee wants activations like that in the coming years that allow people to explore the grounds, enjoy the views of the castle and other buildings and connect with the property.
“We understand that this will be a legacy not for ourselves, but for the city,” Pattee says. “We grew up here, so we understand the importance of prior generations that have done big projects that we have benefitted from.”
Learn more about the project and its master plan, take the survey and sign up for email updates on the project at unionprintershome.com.
Read about some more Big Ideas Shaping the Future of Colorado Springs here.
