Funding has been secured for the reconstruction a bell tower that is a part of small church building in the southern Colorado town of Trinidad.
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was built in 1907, designed by the well-known architectural firm of Isaac and William Rapp in the Romanesque Revival style.
For decades the church served as a worship house for area Italian Americans and Spanish-speaking residents. With a declining congregation, the church finally closed its doors in 1991 and remained vacant for the next 16 years.
Finally, in 2007, Trinidad residents Jay and Emily Cimino purchased the structure, which has since become the Mount Carmel Wellness and Community Center.
The building has since undergone some upgrading. But additional planned work has come in the form of rebuilding the bell tower which was damaged by an earthquake in 2011.
Now the non-profit group History Colorado has announced that it is awarding a $250,000 grant to reconstruct the tower.
In a statement, Ashley DiPaola, director of operations at the Mount Carmel Wellness and Community Center, said the church structure is a “living testament to the history of the Trinidad community, the resilience of its people, and the vitality of the region.”
The population of Trinidad stood at around 10,200 when the Mount Carmel Church first opened its doors more than a century ago and is today just over 8,300.
February 5, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of History Colorado
