It's not very often that I have the material for a three-point-in-time TaN (Then-and-Now) but here it is.
(Soon, this is going to be a very unique shot, probably the only one that will have a four-point-in-time!)
I put together this set of matches around 2008 not knowing how important they would
become given the disatrous fire of the Park Theater Mall on October 2009.
This sequence starts with a shot taken sometime in the 1920's, then to 1938, and ends
in 2004. I intend to go to go up when weather permits to retake it for a fourth in the series
that captures the scene as it appears now after the fire, without the Park Theater Mall.
We also got permission to go up to the balcony of the Seybold building to shoot
from there as well for the shot of the fromt of the Transportation Building, pages 102-103.
History is an interesting phenomenon. Before you now it, all of the sudden you realize
that you are a spectator of a historic change, and then sometimes you participate in it.
It is sad at times to witness changes that destroy familiar sites, but nature is a
very powerful force with capabilities way beyond that of our own. I can't say
that I always wish changes, but we are often left with very little than to document those changes.
I am grateful to have been allowed the priviledge to preserve history from time to time,
especially when it comes to such a wonderful legacy as that for Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Downtown Estes Park from Little Prospect, ca.1920
Downtown Estes Park from Little Prospect, 1938
Downtown Estes Park from Little Prospect, 2004
Soon to appear, Downtown Estes Park from Little Prospect, 2017!