Closing the Springs office
On Thursday we drove from Fort Worth to Colorado Springs in the company truck and trailer. Friday was the last day that the historic Western Horseman building, built in 1949, would be used by the magazine, and we were there to close the building and pack up furniture, files, artwork, etc.
Upon arriving, associate publisher Ernie King said, “I still can’t believe after 61 years that tomorrow is the last day Western Horseman operates out of this building. That is as wrong as Pikes Peak is tall.”
Friday was a sad day. Staff members who had worked there for years came to pack up their belongings, say goodbyes, take photos and shed tears. Many of them stayed late helping the crew haul boxes and clean out offices. That’s the kind of work ethic Western Horseman staff are known for.
During the day, a man showed up with his big palomino gelding and led him into the office. The last horse to step inside the building. We took pictures, and the man talked about how his grandfather subscribed to the magazine. Visits like that are common and are what has made our building unique.
We will spend the rest of this weekend emptying the Springs office. And the artwork, furniture, files and equipment will be moved to Fort Worth in two large Uhauls and the company truck and trailer.
I’m confident that Western Horseman will continue to be a great magazine. The staff and I will do everything we can to ensure that. But no doubt, with our beloved building closed, things will never be the same.
Its brings me mixed emotions, the sadness over closing of the place that has brought me so much joy and knowledge over the past forty-some years is gone but there is joy at knowing you’re now closr to me.
It’s the end of an era.
I never had a chance to visit that great building but I know what it means to the fine folks that worked there. I wonder how Morris Communications, based in Augusta GA, would feel if somebody closed the Masters golf course.
As I left Raton driving east to home on Hwy 64/87 Thursday, I saw the Western Horseman trailer less than a mile before it (you) reached Raton. It was near where you’ve caught me by cell phone a couple times on the same drive home. I wondered who was in the truck and whether I “knew” them.
So, it was you, and we were tantalizingly close to getting to actually shake hands and meet in person. I guess, in both directions, you drove within a block of my house in Des Moines, too. Well, howdy. And good road.
Tim
Sadly WH has been circling the drain for quite a few years and with what seems like a new political bend and an obsession with a few trainers and horses, when my notice came to renew it just went in the trash and I haven’t noticed the magazine doesn’t come to the ranch anymore…
Sad to see you move out of the building in Colorado Springs, but happy that you’re continuing to publish. Western Horseman is the one magazine I read as soon as it arrives. I enjoyed your work when I started reading Western Horseman in 1960 and still enjoy what you’re doing today!