SPMDTU continues on journey toward restoration

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Photos by Priscilla Waggoner Joe Torres, of Torres Builders, walks the attendees through some of the work currently taking place on site for the SPMDTU restoration project. Antonio Esquibel and members of the local council of SPMDTU accepts a grant from History Colorado on Friday morning, July 29. The SPMDTU in Antonito is undergoing a $1.351 million restoration effort boosted by donors including the State Historical Fund, the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area and History Colorado.

ANTONITO — In what Herman Martinez described as a “bright moment,” last week, people associated with the historic SPMDTU building in Antonito were presented with a check from History Colorado for $617,838 in support of restoring the landmark site to its former glory, bringing the total raised so far to $1.3 million.

“The building's restoration and construction project are now underway – Oh how refreshing,” reflected Martinez in an email to the Valley Courier following the ceremony. Herman Martinez is a long-standing member of SPMDTU and sits on the board of directors for the Sangre de Cristo National Historic Area, one of the fundersof the SPMDTU restoration.

Dr. Antonio Esquibel, whom Martinez credits as the project’s “master mind,” unified numerous grantors and wrote the grants that led to funding.

The building is impressive. Standing more than two stories, the adobe and stucco structure commands the attention of anyone traveling down Main Street in Antonito. The tall, red, block letters S.P.M.D.T.U. above the date 1925 only add to its dignity and bearing.

No explanation of what the letters stand for is provided on the building, but neither is an explanation needed. Many of those who gathered for the ceremony on Friday, July 29, are very familiar with what the letters signify — La Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (Society for Mutual Protection of United Workers). They also know from personal experience what the building stands for, what has happened there over the years and what its presence has signified to their community and culture for the past 122 years.

“I was here all the time when I was a kid.”

“We used to stand outside and look through the windows over the heads of all the people and watch boxing matches.”

“I was married here. This is where my daughter had her quinceañera.”

Martin Gonzales, retired District Judge for the 12th Judicial District, added a key perspective to the origin of La Sociedad.

“SPMDTU is the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country,” he said. “We believe they were behind the Maestas case, which was the first desegregation case involving Hispanics in the country.”

Pre-dating the landmark case Brown v the Board of Education by 32 years, the “Maestas case” resulted in the desegregation of Alamosa public schools in 1922.

The history of SPMDTU Judge Gonzales referenced began with a man named Celedonio Mondragón, commemorated in a bronze statue located just south of the building.

According to Dr. Esquibel, Mondragon and six others formed a mutual aid organization that sought, through non-violent actions, to combat the exploitation of Hispanic workers by land barons, mine owners and the railroads, which was rampant 122 years ago.

The organization was “secretive” with a new member allowed only through invitation by a current member.

“It was very closed,” Esquibel said. “In 1900, if you were advocating to form a union of Spanish-speaking people, it could get you hanged. So, it had to be secret. That’s why people didn’t know about it. We had to move from house to house to meet until this building was built.”

But, Esquibel said, taking such an enormous risk did not deter Mondragón from doing what he set out to do.

“He traveled to 63 different places to start concilios locales (local councils),” Esquibel said. “Sixty-three places, in a horse and buggy.”

Ultimately, SPMDTU would have local chapters spreading across the three states of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Even with the passage of time, the building continues to hold a place of prominence.

“If you talk to Hispanic people throughout the valley, they’ll have some connection to this building. Their fathers, their grandfathers, their uncles — someone in their family was a member,” he said.

As a telling example of all that La Sociedad meant to the lives of its members, Esquibel leads the way to a room off to the side. An American flag stands in the corner. A model of the SPMDTU insignia sits on a table at the front of the room. An old black and white photo of a relatively young Celedonio Mondragón hangs on the wall. Equibel then opens the heavy door to a solid cement vault built into the wall.

“Nobody would sell insurance to Hispanics back then, so they created their own insurance company,” he says. “This is where they stored the money.”

Even without the members of La Sociedad recalling former days, the building still tells its own story. 

The faded red lines on the professional-grade wooden floor where basketball games were played. The hole cut high in an interior wall for the projectionist’s booth, At the opposite end of the large building, an elevated stage where there were performances of plays, poetry readings and bands for the dances that were held.

And now, a new chapter in the story is being written.

Previous grants from the State Historical Fund and the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area of Alamosa funded design and engineering work plus, thanks to the high-quality work of Scheuber and Darden Architects and local general contractor Joe Torres with Torres Builders, all 26 outside windows, outside doors, the entrance and the vestibule have been restored.

Recent funding will enable restoration of the exterior; stabilization of the roof, northeast corner of the building, stairs, floors and stage; gender neutral-ADA restrooms; a heating system; construction of an all-electric food service area; wall painting and conversion of the office into an SPMDTU Museum/Visitors Center and Education/Research Center.

Plans for the future also include EV charging stations and solar panels.

“Everybody had ideas and someone asked, ‘what about affordable housing’?” Esquibel said. “So, we’re putting in an apartment — kind of like a loft — where someone can live and take care of the building.”

Key individuals representing the funders were present and spoke at the ceremony, including Julie Chacon, executive director of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area and Dawn DiPrince, executive director of History Colorado and State Historical Preservation Officer. Eric Carpio, director of the Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center was there as well as Patrick Eidman, Chief Preservation Officer with History Colorado.

When asked about his thoughts on the project, Eidman told the Courier, “I’m very grateful and honored to hear the stories of these people who have been caretakers of this building. It’s powerful to hear how a community makes a building, and I’m very honored to be part of this story.”

“Through a united effort of restorations and collaborations,” Herman Martinez wrote in his email, “this sala/Meeting Hall — nearly abandoned and nearing permanent closure due to wear and deterioration — will once again open its doors to community performances and events that will serve to house, as in previous years, the orators, musicians, storytellers and poets, cooks, educators and families from throughout the neighboring communities of the region.”

Dr. Esquibel is a graduate of Adams State University and was Vice President of Student Affairs at Metropolitan State College University, on the Board of Trustees for the Consortium of State Colleges of Colorado and Executive Director of Rocky Mountain SER Head Start of Denver. He is a member of the SPMDTU Denver concilio and on the statewide governing board.