A ribbon-cutting set for Wednesday will celebrate the latest monumental effort atop America’s Mountain.
Men have suffered through construction above 14,000 feet since 1873, when the Army erected a weather station. It was later modified into the first “Summit House” as we came to know it — a stop for tourists arriving by the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Next came a building for drivers of the highway. Later, in 1964, came the summit house to be known for the next five decades.
And now comes the Pikes Peak Summit Complex.
Dignitaries are expected to be on hand for the state-of-the-art visitor center’s official opening.
“It’s finally the kind of structure this mountain deserves,” Tim Redfern, construction manager with GE Johnson, previously told The Gazette.
Tucked into the summit’s southeast edge, the building of hurricane wind-tested glass and steel is more than three times the size of its predecessor. The 38,000-square-foot complex includes a “grand staircase,” boasting views of Mount Rosa and the Arkansas River Valley.
The viewing opportunities expand outside.
“People are gonna have so many choices, they won’t know what to do,” said Jack Glavan, manager of Pikes Peak — America’s Mountain.
An elevated boardwalk will take visitors to various points of interest, including to an original summit house wall and an old monument honoring Katharine Lee Bates, poet of “America the Beautiful.”
More overlooks have been made around the mountaintop, showcasing the sweeping scenery that inspired the song.
One platform extends beyond the tundra’s northern edge, high above the Bottomless Pit. It “gives you that Titanic moment,” Glavan said.
Other memorable moments await. In the meantime, let these photos offer a glimpse.
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June 28, 2021 at 01:00PM
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With Pikes Peak Summit Complex open, take a photo tour of transformed mountaintop - Colorado Springs Gazette
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