(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Starting Tuesday, July 25, historians are pumping new life into the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. Over the next eight months, crews will be upgrading the 120-year-old building’s aging heating and air conditioning system while also expanding and improving exhibit space.
The $6.7 million project comes from a mix of the Lodgers and Auto Rental Tax, or LART fund, and the Colorado Springs general fund from 2021 and 2022. The doors may be shut during construction, but the museum has found a way to continue sharing new stories with Southern Colorado.
The Pioneers Museum begins a transformative project in a building dating back to 1903. The eight month multi-million-dollar project will install a state-of-the-art HVAC system, along with some new upgrades for exhibits.
“It was never discussed to walk away from the building, this is the first building placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Pikes Peak Region and really is a testament to the history of Colorado Springs,” said Matt Mayberry, Director of Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
Once the new system is installed and air flow is restored, historians will create a new exhibit gallery, renovate an existing gallery, and design and construct a publicly viewable collections processing and exhibit preparation workspace. The renovations will increase the ability to share Pikes Peak regional history while completing a project 100 years in the making.
“The air duct work was never installed, so what we are doing in part of this project after 50 years is going back and completing the work that was planned at that time,” Mayberry explained.
During construction, Mayberry says the building will close to the public, but a Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum annex, across the street at Plaza of the Rockies, will continue displaying exhibits.
“We chose to do the annex space so we can continue to engage the public,” Mayberry said. “We will be working toward the reopening of this building with new exhibits planned, and I’m going to ask you to come back and learn more about that.”
The annex kicked off Tuesday with its first exhibit, Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight, a partnership with the Smithsonian traveling exhibitions. Two of the many figures presented in the exhibition are Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to obtain her pilot’s license, and aviator William J. Powell, who led an ambitious program to promote aviation in African American communities.
Other exhibits featured in the annex include Story of Us: Pikes Peak Region and Ute Knowledge.
“We wanted to use this opportunity to let us tell more stories, that’s what we’re really good at,” Mayberry said.
The annex is located on 121 S. Tejon Street, Suite 100 in Downtown Colorado Springs. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
