Case Study

A town of 10,000, Trinidad in 2002 was beginning a transition from the cyclical booms and busts of its trading and coal mining history. The booms had left grand architecture, streets paved with brick, and memories of prosperity. The busts had left a faded elegance and an aging infrastructure.

Travelers in Colorado typically maintained speed as they passed by Trinidad on I-25. Trinidad? Is that the town we passed on our way to Santa Fe?

In tandem with a growing energy in the private sector and city plans to expand public amenities, Trinidad needed tourists to help improve the local economy. It needed a funding mechanism and a long-term plan.