1972 – Steamboat Springs Council of the Arts & Humanities (now Steamboat Creates) was formed.
1974 – Executive Director of Steamboat Creates, Eleanor Bliss, dreams of a caboose sitting outside the Depot to honor the building and commemorate the role the railroad played in the town’s development. Her vision for the caboose was an artist’s studio
1990 – Jim Cook, realtor and developer, convinces Anschutz Foundation to donate a caboose to Steamboat Creates. Cook goes to Denver and personally picks out a caboose that once ran the rails between Denver and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Unfortunately Eleanor Bliss was not alive to see the seeds of her dream come true.
1990 to 2019 – The caboose sits abandoned and neglected, a target for vandalism and graffiti.
2013 – Executive Director of Steamboat Creates, Kim Keith, wants to realize Eleanor’s dream and help the caboose come alive.
2017 – Keith pitches the idea of a caboose renovation for Main Street Steamboat’s ‘Vote Your Mainstreet’ campaign with a cost of $150,000 for the renovation. The caboose became a finalist for the project but ultimately did not win any funding.
2019 – Development Director of Steamboat Creates, Dagny McKinley, decides it’s time to make the transformation. With a generous donation from a Scottish Laird, the transformation begins. The exterior is painted by Brooklyn artist, Espartaco Albornoz Abreau. On a shoestring budget of $30,000 electricity and heat are installed. The interior is refurbished and furniture installed.
2020 – The Nozcaboose renovations are complete and the caboose opens as an artist-in-residence studio for local artists.
Thank You To:
Robert, Laird of Dunnans, for the generous donation that kick-started this project.
Rumor Designs for the concept for the interior and extremely generous donation of furniture and pictures.
Backcountry Electric for the heat and electric
Rawlings Construction for the interior renovations
RS Welding for reconstructing the original conductor chairs and welding new stairs to the caboose for access
Barb & Stu King for the many hours they donated to help paint the exterior and interior of the caboose
Alpine Lumber: For donating paint for the interior