Open house set for new Pikes Peak visitors center

The iconic summit house on the top of America’s mountain won’t be there for much longer.

The visitors center was built in the 60’s and soon it will be torn down. A new, larger center will take its place.

Jack Glavan, manager of the Pikes Peak Highway, has been working on the project for a new summit house for 20 years.

Glavan said it’s time to show off Pike’s Peak’s beauty, history and culture to its fullest potential.

“Part of our goal is to restore nature up here, and tell that story of how plants and vegetation survives at 14,000 feet,” said Glavan.

The original summit house was built in 1964. It has small windows, the ceilings leak and the foundation is beginning to fall apart.

Over the next five years the aging visitors center will become a modern visitors center with a gift shop, dining area and exhibits.

“It’s iconic,” Glavan said. “We need to express that and convey that to people.”

The project has been in the works since the 1990s. Construction is set to begin next summer. The goal is for the work to be complete by 2020.

If you’d like to share ideas and feedback on the project the Forest Service is holding an open house in Colorado Springs Tuesday. You can stop by Library 21C on Chapel Hills Drive from 3 to 7 p.m.