Historic Denver's offices have moved.
We are now in the Tattered Cover Building
1628 16th Street, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80202
303-534-5288
Fax: 303-534-5296

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In recent issues of Historic Denver News, you learned about our relationship with the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) and our entrance into Tier II for 2001. What we haven't shared is the impact of that funding on this organization. The funds have allowed us to invest in the organization with revenue going towards improving our technology and our ability to provide information in new ways.

Most members do not know about the rigors of the day-to-day operations of an organization like ours, so it may come as a complete surprise that until September most of the staff was working on "historic" computer equipment. The use of this older equipment has caused numerous problems in how we serve our membership and constituents. Our old computers did not allow us to upgrade software, and many of our programs were DOS, not Windows-based.

The old equipment and software made it difficult (and time consuming) to share information with other cultural institutions, keep accurate statistical information on giving and membership or allow us to bring more financial functions in house. Through the funding from SCFD we were able to upgrade some of our equipment (although we could use more) to provide much of our staff with the latest in accounting and database software, and with systems that do not crash.

With the help of our accounting firm, Bondi, we converted our accounting to Peachtree. We are now working on converting our 10-year-old DOS based membership database to Access. Conversions from such old software to the latest off-the-shelf systems can be difficult, so we hope that you let us know if you experience difficulties in the coming months. In addition to new software, we received a tremendous boost from both the Women of the West Museum and White and Steele law firm with the donation of computer equipment that meets our needs.

Perhaps the most important upgrade came from improvement to all our Web sites (Historic Denver, FaithAction and the Molly Brown House Museum) with funds from both the State Historical Fund and SCFD. Also, with postage and print costs rising, the organization felt that investments into Web sites were long overdue given the demand for up-to-date information by our members. Our new Web sites will give you current and accurate information on preservation issues and projects, upcoming events and, eventually, a contractor's page.

With printing costs rising, we will print only four issues of our newsletter a year. We will be using the Web site as a tool for keeping you better informed. The Historic Denver and FaithAction sites will be launched in April. Your comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

In order to become a better organization in the 21st century, HD is investing both SCFD and State Historical Funds in to a strategic business plan to help us continue to grow and serve Denver and the metropolitan area. The strategic plan will allow HD to evaluate its existing programs and develop new programs and business centers to ensure our future stability as an organization. We were also able to partner SCFD and State Historical Funds to develop new education programs at the Molly Brown House Museum.