By Tom Ragan, THE GAZETTE
Historic Manitou Spa might be rebuilt

Two Colorado Springs developers are interested in fixing up the decades-old Historic Manitou Spa, which the city shuttered and condemned more than four years ago.

Steve Shuttleworth and H. Lowell Moore have a contract to buy the 36,000-square-foot building and are talking about turning it into a retail and residential complex.

Built in 1918, the building has numerous fire code violations, including asbestos, broken windows, a subpar interior and flood damage from the heavy rains in the spring of 1999.

Consequently, the developers are recruiting Chuck Murphy of Murphy Constructors of Colorado Springs Inc. to help with the work, which could cost more than $2 million.

Murphy has been instrumental in renovating several historic structures in Manitou Springs — including the Barker House, a residential home for senior citizens, and the Cliff House, a popular hotel.

“It cries out to be restored,” Murphy said of the spa building. “The beauty of this particular building is it’s built like a fort. It’s a massive concrete structure. It’s the hub of Manitou. It sits in a prominent place.”

Murphy, who likens restoring historic buildings “to shaking hands with the past,” is working with Shuttleworth and Moore in coming up with a plan.

“Manitou needs affordable housing,” Murphy said. “And we’re going to try to provide it.”

As for Shuttleworth and Moore, their most recent development is the Centennial Business Campus, where they are building condominiums and townhomes on about 70 acres in northwest Colorado Springs.

They also remodeled a building on the southeast corner of Pueblo Avenue and Weber Street. That building is occupied by homeless war veterans.

Shuttleworth and Moore expect to unveil their plans before the Manitou Springs City Council by early February. But the developers must work with the Manitou Springs Historic Preservation Committee to make sure their work meets historic guidelines.

“We know all the things that are wrong with it, and we’re coming up with some solutions to fix it,” said Shuttleworth of the spa building. “The file on the building code violations are about four inches thick.”

Since May 1999, the spa building has been an eyesore in Manitou Springs. The Manitou Springs City Council started to look into demolition costs in April.

But the three-story building, owned by former Colorado Springs resident Walt Sebring, is registered with the National Register of Historic Places.

The listing distinction creates a dilemma: Should the city demolish the shell of the former bath house and hotel that was once the main attraction in the early 1920s?

“We just want something done with the building, one way or another,” said Manitou Springs City Manager Fred Burmont.

From 1984 through 1990, Sebring owned the spa building, which housed 14 apartments, several gift shops, a massage therapy school, a Christian ministry, a bathhouse and the Brookside Terrace restaurant. The building then passed through several owners, none of whom could turn a profit.

Sebring had to foreclose on the building twice — in 2000 and 2001.

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