Housing board wants to change the name of Caddis Flats

Asking the public for
suggestions…

The name Caddis Flats, the long-term affordable housing project slated for Crested Butte, will be gone long before the first shovel of dirt is turned. And you can help replace the name.

The Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority board of directors has never been enamored with the moniker and so they are asking people to help find a better name.
“The name ‘Caddis Flats’ was simply attached to the project as it was moving before the Crested Butte town staff, the Town Council and BOZAR,” explained GVRHA executive director Karl Fulmer. “While that name has garnered some traction, the GVRHA board wants to involve the public for the re-naming.”
The tax credit-subsidized project will start construction next spring and is expected to provide 30 low-rent units in a 22,000-square-foot building located between True Value and Clark’s Market.
Rent will be based on annual median income and the units will go to long-term residents who sign at least a one-year lease.
According to Fulmer, since the original selection of the name “Caddis Flats,” many members of the Housing Authority’s board of directors have not liked the name. The private partner in the project, Bill Coburn, is an avid fly fisherman and came up with the name. Fulmer is a fisherman as well and he liked the name.
“About six or eight months ago there was discussion of the eventual change of the name,” said Fulmer. “Presently, the Housing Authority board would like to involve the public with the re-naming of Caddis Flats. The board would like a name that is simple and represents some particular aspect of the Crested Butte/Gunnison County area. Oddly enough, too many folks have asked staff and board members, ‘What is caddis?’”
The name doesn’t have to be attached to fishing or mining or ranching. “The theme simply needs to be focused on celebrating something unique and positive from our area,” Fulmer said. “Some of the suggested names prior to selecting ‘Caddis Flats’ included Blossom Rock, Iron Cap, Blue Sky, Sawmill, Anthracite, Northern Heights, and Coal Spur.”
Fulmer insisted the board wasn’t put off by the name after locals quickly nicknamed the project Cannabis Frats.
“This has nothing to do with the re-naming, though all of us have gotten a good laugh out of the nickname ‘Cannabis Flats,’” Fulmer said. “The board’s discussion has suggested that we cannot be too concerned with potential nicknames for the property. Fundamentally, the board simply wants a name that represents the character and uniqueness of our valley, and a name that the community, as a whole, can embrace.”
So if you have an idea, email suggestions directly to the executive director of the Housing Authority at [email protected]. Put “RE-NAME” in the subject line. “We will accept suggestions until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23,” said Fulmer. During the week of July 28, a sub-committee of the GVRHA board will meet to review the submittals and make an official recommendation to the full board on Wednesday, August 6, 2014.
Dang. “Poverty Gulch”’ is already taken.