Old Town pavers, Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado
The Linden Street Pavers
2’ x 2’ x 1”
Media: etched granite
Fort Collins, Colorado
Commissioned by the City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places Program.
Eleven paver designs depicting Fort Collins history are installed in the sidewalk along either side of Linden Street (east of Jefferson St). The paver imagery interacts with interpretative signage. In 2013, the Linden Street Paver project won a City of Fort Collins Urban Design Award (“Urban Fragments” Category).
The intersection of Willow and Linden Streets is the site where the original Fort was located. The original fort was in existence at this site for only 3 years (in the 1860’s), but became the namesake of the town. “Old Town” Fort Collins still contains many restored older buildings that date back to the early 1900’s. For all three of these paver projects, the artist had the opportunity to explore the Fort Collins museum history archives as part of the design process. Some designs were created based on oral or written accounts of a situation or event. Many pertinent symbols were also utilized as well as imagery from old photos when available. The challenge was translating complex images into simple line drawings that could be translated into a laser cut line in stone. Once the designs were complete, they were converted into a digital format. These digital files were given to a stone etching company along with the granite blanks. They were etched (using computerized equipment), sandblasted and then a black stone dye was applied to specified areas; the same process that is used in grave stone etching.