An image I took last month while in downtown Denver with my son while he worked on a photography project for school.
The gold leaf of the dome was re-finished in 2013 as part of a restoration project. At that time, they also re-painted the cast iron structure to this blue-gray color which doesn’t match the rest of the building but is ‘historically correct.’ Personally I think the mismatched colors look stupid. 😉
The building was constructed in the 1890s and opened in 1894. At that time the dome was copper but that soon tarnished and turned very dark so in 1908 it was gilded in gold.
The 15th step on the west side of the capitol is engraved with “One Mile Above Sea Level.” In 1969 and again in 2003 surveys determined the 18th and 13th steps were actually 5280 feet above sea level and they too bear a marker now.
