Photo Courtesy of Frank Ooms

Colorado’s up and coming cultural destination, the History Colorado Center, aims to ignite imaginations, provoke discussion and touch hearts in telling Colorado stories, ushering in a new era for the state’s history museum.

DENVER — History Colorado announced today that Denver’s newest cultural attraction, the History Colorado Center, will open to the public on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Designed to ignite imaginations of all ages about Colorado history, this new state history museum and hub for civic engagement creates a rich experience for visitors through exhibits and programs that will blend technology, media, environments and artifacts. 

“The History Colorado Center is more than a new museum—its development served as the impetus to transform the 132-year-old Colorado Historical Society into History Colorado and launch the organization into a new era,” said Ed Nichols, History Colorado President and CEO.

A planned expansion by the Colorado Judicial Department precipitated the move of the Colorado History Museum that was located at 13^th Avenue and Broadway in Denver—an opportunity that board of directors and staff seized to rebrand as History Colorado and develop an all-new flagship facility and museum—the History Colorado Center.

“The History Colorado Center will be a place for self-discovery, inspiration, scholarship and fun,” he said. “Our goal is to meet and then exceed the expectations of a savvy, modern, museum-going audience with original high-tech and hands-on interactive multimedia along with authentic artifacts and evocative stories of Colorado’s diverse people.”

As a new Smithsonian Affiliate, the History Colorado Center is sure to make the “must see” list for Denver visitors, history buffs, families — anyone who is attracted to the allure that is Colorado.

History Matters

“History Colorado is in a position to help Coloradans understand the present in the context of the past and can serve as a forum for civic conversations about today’s issues in an historical context. But, to accomplish that, we needed to re-think our approach to presenting history—a subject too many people can all too easily neglect,” said Nichols.

Kathryn Hill, Chief Operating Officer and overseer of the new exhibits and programs, reinforced that the History Colorado Center presented an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop a place where the community feels a strong sense of ownership.  “We went into this project understanding that history museums all over the country are struggling to find a relevant place in their communities, and that we wanted the History Colorado Center to turn the image many people have of the staid state history museum on its head,” she said.

To engage new audiences, though, meant understanding more about what interests them.Museum staff launched a comprehensive audience research program and reached out to more than 3,000 Coloradans and other museum goers to discover what excites and connects them to Colorado history, and how history museum exhibits and educational programs might engage even those who are not naturally attracted to history.

After analyzing audience research, Colorado State Historian and Director of History Colorado’s Exhibits and Interpretation, William J. Convery, noted that the studies showed the stories that resonated with potential audiences the most are those that engage them emotionally—human stories that are exciting, or tragic, or comical—and that there’s a strong preference toward a thematic approach to history, opposed to chronological.

“Colorado is a state that has always inspired big dreams and aspirations. The people who made it here found ways to shape and be shaped by Colorado’s extraordinary landscape and built enduring communities. Capturing stories around those major themes became the central focus of our core exhibition program,” Convery said. 

“The History Colorado Center was developed with our audiences in mind. We had to start from scratch to create a destination that helps us to better understand our present in the context of the past, supported by exhibits and programs that tell very human, emotionally-engaging stories that provoke us to ask tough questions and explore our own contributions to Colorado’s future,” Hill said. 

History Colorado Center Exhibitions

Exhibits in the nearly 200,000-square-foot, $110.8 million museum are slated to open in several phases. Inaugural exhibits, which begin installation in January, celebrate the spirit of the people over the past 10,000 years and the enduring communities they built.

History Colorado retained the services of Janet Kamien, a nationally renowned exhibit developer whose credits include the exhibition program at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, to work with staff in developing exhibit content. Andrew Merriell & Associates, a Santa Fe, New Mexico firm responsible for master planning and exhibition design for museums nationally and internationally, was awarded the contract for exhibit design. Richard Lewis Media Group, whose most recent work is on display in the Human Evolution Hall at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., joined the team to design media components. 

• Together, staff and consultants are producing the first phase of museum exhibitions, which includes:

  • The Great Map of Colorado & Time Machine:  This 40-by60-foot terrazzo tile map of Colorado imbedded into the floor of the museum’s atrium is part of Colorado’s Art in Public Places program, which integrates the art experience into the built environment and civic spaces. The map was created by nationally acclaimed artist Steven Weitzman and serves as both a work of art and an interpretive experience. Visitors are invited to wander across the map and explore this artistic rendition of Colorado’s unique topography.

    The map comes to life with History Colorado’s own “Time Machine,” where visitors push an H.G. Wells-inspired, steampunk-like device over the map to hit hot spots that treat them to video stories from the region. Time Machine stories explore serious subjects ranging from the 1914 Ludlow Massacre and the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers to humorous tales of the Colorado/Texas Tomato Wars of the 1980s and Max Kuner’s famous Dancing Pickles.

  • The People, the Place & the Promise:  A dynamic media wall with 132 interlocking LCD screens in the History Colorado Center’s atrium will feature a timeline orienting visitors to the chronology of Colorado history, from 10,000 years ago to the present. Introducing visitors to the museum’s programmatic themes is Colorado: The People, The Place & The Promise — a beautiful collage of images that plays every hour.
  • Destination Colorado:  A 5,000-square-foot exhibit introduces visitors to the 1920s dryland farming town of Keota, a place residents called “the Arcadia of the West.” Designed especially for families, this exhibit invites visitors to enroll in the town high school, ride down a dusty road in a Model T, share town news in a homestead kitchen, climb into a hayloft and swap eggs at the general store. Town residents, who are based on the actual residents of the town and presented on oversized media screens, greet visitors in each location and share the stories of their lives in Keota, while text panels provide a national and international context to this local story. 
  • Colorado Stories:  This 9,500-square-foot exhibit examines eight distinct Colorado communities from the 1300s to the present to illustrate the diversity of Colorado’s peoples and environments.

  Descend into a 1880s hard-rock mine shaft to learn about mucking, mules, blasting and the pluck that it took to do this important work. Or visit Steamboat Springs circa 1915 to take a virtual ski jump off the famed Howelsen Hill and meet the man who introduced ski jumping to North America. Choose an avatar to venture into Bent’s Old Fort in the 1800s to trade with Kit Carson, Captain John C. Frémont and Chief Yellow Wolf at this global tradingpost.

  Visitors will also experience stories from Lincoln Hills, one of only a few resort communities in the U.S. for African Americans during the 1920s Jim Crow era; and of Amache, and the survivors of the internment camp forced on Japanese Americans during World War II; as well as the devastating collision of communities that resulted in the tragic 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.     

Architecture Meets a Need

Located in Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District and Civic Center cultural complex, the building was designed by Denver-based Tryba Architects, managed by the Denver office of Trammell Crow Company and constructed by Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co.

Tryba Architects specializes in highly visible public architecture and has developed a national reputation for designing distinctive places and unique works of architecture. Principal David Tryba noted that museums are “community anchor institutions” and are among the most trusted institutions in our country. “They are places that are critical to the quality of life in our communities. As core community institutions, they have a unique opportunity to fulfill a diverse range of needs. The History Colorado Center will provide just that kind of anchor,” he said.

“The History Colorado Center’s modern, sleek architecture evokes the spirit of Colorado through its use of native colors, natural light and Colorado materials, reflecting the vibrancy of the western landscape while beautifully augmenting the other highly notable historic buildings in Denver’s Civic Center complex, as well as modern buildings such as the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Public Library and the Clyfford Still Museum,” said Nichols.

Notable highlights of the new History Colorado Center include:

• Highly experiential exhibits featuring authentic artifacts from History Colorado’s extensive collection along with high-tech features and hands-on activities for visitors to explore major issues that shaped Colorado. A 10,000-square-foot gallery will serve as a space for traveling exhibitions in the future.
• Community gathering spaces for civic engagement, discussion and celebration. A sky-lit, four-story atrium, a large auditorium and classrooms provide spaces for programs, lectures, classes and parties for school children, families and adults; there is first-floor retail space and a restaurant/café; and private rental spaces that offer breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains.
• State-of-the-art collections storage facilities, providing highly efficient climate-controlled environments for History Colorado’s vast collection of books, documents, manuscripts, photographs and artifacts. The Stephen H. Hart Library is easily accessible to museum audiences, providing a portal to History Colorado collections for scholars, students and curious visitors of all ages.
• Green. The History Colorado Center is the newest state building to be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Gold certification. A variety of recycled and Colorado materials, including beetle-kill pine, Colorado sandstone, Douglas fir woodworking and cabinetry made of strand-woven aspen, are incorporated throughout the building.

Background

The History Colorado Center is located at 1200 Broadway in Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District and Civic Center cultural complex, within blocks of the Denver Art Museum, the Clyfford Still Museum, the Denver Public Library, the Byers-Evans House Museum, the CELL and the state capitol building.

The History Colorado Center replaces the Colorado History Museum, which was located at 13th Avenue and Broadway and was demolished in May 2010 to make room for the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. The History Colorado Center and the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center projects were financed together through the sale of Certificates of Participation (COPs) and without the use of State general funds. The History Colorado Center construction project alone generated more than 700 jobs and more than $110 million in economic impact, according to projections done by Trammell Crow Company.

The History Colorado Center serves as headquarters for History Colorado administration, including the State Historical Fund and the Office of Archaeology & Historic Preservation.

Making History, Colorado!

While the History Colorado Center building was funded through the sale of COPs, private funding is needed for the development and installation of exhibitions and other educational programs. Through the Make History Colorado! campaign, History Colorado is nearly halfway to reaching its $33 million capital campaign goal, having received initial support from community leaders, local and national foundations, and corporations. To learn more about the Make History Colorado! Campaign or contribute, please visit the support us page. 

History Colorado members will be among the first to experience this stunning new cultural destination. Charter members will receive invitations to the grand opening preview and free, unlimited general admission and guest passes not only to the History Colorado Center, but to all History Colorado museums, as well as passes to ride the historic Georgetown Loop Railroad®, discounts on special programs and merchandise, and a subscription to Colorado Heritage magazine. Visit the membership page for a complete list of benefits.