Western Resilience Center Establishing Regional Hub and Community Resource

Creating a Center for learning, collaboration, action

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (July 8, 2026) — Communities are strongest when they have the tools to prepare for what’s ahead. With approval from Steamboat Springs City Council, Northwest Colorado is one step closer to gaining a new kind of community resource at a pivotal time: the Western Resilience Center at 602 Oak Street.

The forthcoming Western Resilience Center will serve as a regional hub and community resource center for all things climate resilience: a place for partners and community members to learn how the impacts of changing climate are affecting our region, actions people can take to make a difference, and ways to collaborate and get involved.

For more than 16 years, Western Resilience Center (formerly Yampa Valley Sustainability Council) has worked alongside residents, businesses, local governments, and more than 90 partner organizations to advance evidence-based solutions that build resilience to the impacts of changing climate across Northwest Colorado. From restoring riparian, rangeland and forest ecosystems to advancing clean energy, connected transportation and circularity, Western Resilience Center leads and supports initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the ability for the region’s economy, communities and natural environments to function and be healthy amidst the ongoing changes associated with changing climate.

The Center comes at a pivotal time for Northwest Colorado. As communities across the region navigate hotter temperatures, decreased snowpacks, decreased water supplies, increased wildfire risk and growing energy demands, the need for a trusted place where people can learn, collaborate, and build resilience has never been greater.

“The creation of the Western Resilience Center at 602 Oak Street is a milestone for Northwest Colorado, ensuring our future in the face of a changing climate,” said Sarah Loughran, Chair of the Western Resilience Center Board of Directors. “Our community places a high value on environmental health and resilience. The Center provides a springboard for initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon storage, and strengthen the resilience of our natural systems in the face of higher temperatures, less water, and more variable weather. Its downtown location is essential because it makes education, collaboration, and action accessible to everyone while reflecting how deeply our community values the health of the place we call home.”

The Center’s design plans, which were reviewed and approved unanimously by the City of Steamboat Springs Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission, maximize utility and function as a community resource and regional hub, while also showcasing the organization’s mission through its integrated historic preservation and lead-by-example new construction approach.

The Center features a welcoming foyer and gallery that will showcase rotating educational and art exhibits, a Resilience Forum and meeting room that can be used by partners and nonprofits for workshops and meetings, a collaborative work space for partners and fellows to use while working or collaborating in the region and work space for the organization’s robust team of professional staff, interns and apprentices.

Rather than removing the existing historic 1907 building, Western Resilience Center is helping retain the cultural history of downtown Steamboat Springs by preserving the historical asset and adding a thoughtful addition on the rear of the lot. The new addition is consistent with historic preservation best practices and the Colorado Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, and serves as a living model of the organization’s mission and sustainability building. The building features ground-source geothermal heating and cooling, on-site solar, electric-vehicle infrastructure, below-grade usable square footage, water-conserving and native landscaping and public educational displays throughout the building that display building performance and sustainability features.

The building’s downtown location also models densification and walkability in commercial development. Through its Responsible Riders Program, Western Resilience Center is modeling how, in addition to infrastructure that supports public or alternative transportation, programs and organizational culture that incentivize the use of public or alternative transportation is key to helping reduce emissions.

“Rather than simply talking or writing about solutions, the Center creates an opportunity for us to use and showcase solutions that people can see, ask questions about, and ideally replicate in their own homes, businesses, schools, and communities,” said Michelle Stewart, Western Resilience Center’s Executive Director.

Because the Center serves the community and due to the organization’s role in increasing regional workforce development through its internship program, Western Resilience Center has earned Colorado Enterprise Zone tax credit eligibility for qualifying cash and eligible in-kind contributions to help fund the construction of the Center and general operations.

“I want to personally thank everyone who is helping make this project a reality,” Loughran said. “Many people from this community have stepped up with significant financial donations, and key individuals have given of their time and expertise to get us to this point.”

Thanks to the generosity of early supporters, Western Resilience Center has secured approximately 70 percent of the funding needed to complete the project. More community support is needed and remains essential to the Center’s success.

“Resilience is built when individuals come together — as community, as a region — and take local actions that matter, and which scale up to big, system-level impacts,” says Stewart. “We look forward to working collaboratively with many others to make the forthcoming Western Resilience Center the hub our region needs and is proud of, modeling how we as a region are choosing to come together to build resilience in a rapidly changing West.”

To learn more about the Building Western Resilience campaign, available naming opportunities, or Colorado Enterprise Zone tax credits, visit westernresilience.org/hub or contact Donor Engagement Manager Kate Brocato at kate.brocato@westernresilience.org.

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Western Resilience Center is rooted in place, science-based, collaborative, and nonpartisan. The organization works to strengthen natural systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilient communities. Through education, partnerships, and on-the-ground action, Western Resilience Center serves as a leader, catalyst, and resource for building a sustainable and resilient Yampa Valley region.