History Colorado Center lures visitors with new insights and interactive fun activities
The museum’s main timeline of Colorado history is now digital, unlike the old static one that ended a little early due to the fact that the museum ran out of wall space. This version is projected on a wall in the lobby and unfolds in a 27-minute loop covering 10,000 years. The same microtile wall screen projects a six-minute movie recapping Colorado’s highlights.
And that overlooks the curious time machine, a giant, circular brass contraption, built steampunk-style, that rolls across the lobby floor. The museum used its art set-aside, the money all new projects must devote to commission artist Steven Weitzman to make a massive terrazzo map of Colorado. Embedded in the floor are 11 markers designating key historic spots.
Visitors choose their destination and push the machine over to it. They tap a time period,and a short film plays on the monitor. The stories cover broad terrain: the preservation of Mesa Verde, the Leadville Ice Palace, Shep the Tollbooth Sheepdog, the Ludlow Massacre. The presentations are lively with video, text, animation.