Watertower Place

Re-thinking the Rational Factory

The New Rational Factory

The Rational Factory is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. More specifically, the mission of the Rational Factory is to create a vision for the redevelopment of the historic Nuckolls Packing Company building by partnering arts and engineering as catalysts for change. We are focused on creating a sustainable, healthy space for innovation to help cultivate Pueblo's entrepreneurial community.

Board of Directors Representing

• Engineering

• Art

• Education

• Library

• Archives

• Manufacturing

• Wellness

• Lifestyle

• Food

• Business

• Politics

• Historic Preservation
  
  

Re-Urbanism: National Trust for Historic Preservation

The Ten Principles of Re-urbanism

• Cities are only successful when they work for everyone. People are at the center of our work. Preservation projects can create opportunities for community residents at all income levels to live, work, and play in a diverse and thriving environment.

• Older places provide the distinctiveness and character that engender success. Older buildings give cities a sense of identity, history, and authenticity—which is the most important competitive advantage they can have in today’s economy.

• Older neighborhoods are economic engines. Research shows that neighborhoods with a mix of older and newer buildings perform better along a number of social, economic, cultural, and environmental metrics than areas with only new buildings.

• New ideas, and the New Economy, thrive in older buildings. All over America, the most innovative companies of the 21st century are choosing to make their homes in older buildings. These buildings fuel creativity by being distinctive, character rich, endlessly adaptable, and often low cost.

• Preservation is adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse is preservation. Historic preservation is not just about keeping old buildings around. It is about keeping them alive, in active use, and relevant to the needs of the people who surround them.

• Preservation is about managing change. Healthy, dynamic neighborhoods are always in the process of change. Historic preservation is about managing change: unleashing the enormous potential of older buildings to improve health, affordability, prosperity, and well-being.

• Cities are for people, not vehicles. Reclaiming city streets and making them more amenable to pedestrian and mass transit use can help neighborhoods reacquire activity and thrive once more.

• The greenest building is the one that’s already built. It takes energy to construct a new building—it saves energy to preserve an old one. It simply does not make sense to recycle cans and newspapers and not recycle buildings.

• There are many ways to achieve density. Areas with a mix of older and newer fabric tend to be denser than new-only neighborhoods, and they achieve that density at a human scale.

• Every community has stories and places that matter. The places worth saving are those where communities choose to come together and that represent the local stories they treasure and wish to see preserved.

Building a Vital Community

OUR Philosophy