The new History Colorado Center is an architectural triumph

I realize I'm judging the museum without seeing it, but I haven't heard anything that gives me any hope this will be anything but another wasted opportunity.

I agree with Guest #1 about the open atrium. It may look nice, but what about exhibit space? Ryan Warner had an interview on Colorado Matters recently with Kathryn Hill about the museum and its exhibits. She blathered on about how everything was going to be about "people's stories". Well, people and their stories are *part* of history, of course, but it sounds like they have no intention of displaying or building exhibits around the artifacts they have in their collection.

People who want to learn about Colorado's history are told they can go to the research library and look things up for themselves. Meanwhile, why don't the rest of you line up to try our virtual reality ski jump? Really? How does standing in line to play an arcade game have anything to do with "history"?

The "time machine" roll-around-and-try-to-find-some-video-hotspots-on-our-big-giant-map doohicket sounds horrendous. So...I won't be able to go to any exhibit and maybe learn something about our state. No, I'll have to wrest a time machine away from some other museum patrons and go spelunking for histo-tainment? Come on. What a stupid idea.

Oh, and I guess that big giant floor map is a primary permanent exhibit. Good thing, because I sure can't find maps of Colorado anywhere. (History!) And, since it fills a big chunk of the atrium floor, that floorspace is unusable for anything else. Better hope it doesn't get busy, or you'll miss the show.

Big, empty spaces filled with occasional infotainment. Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

i'd like to publish some of these comments in our print edition, ideally with your full name/town. If that's okay, e-mail me at patricia.calhoun@westword.com

How sad the review of the new museum leads one to believe exhibits will not improve from the old museum. I was amazed to see the former musem had not addressed the Hispanic population of Colorado and its rich heritage. Wonder whom is on the board???? Come on folks, we live in a very multicultural state with incredible history - finally, let's get with it!!!!

Yikes, is this a marketing promo for David Tryba or what? Who paid Paglia to write this? It's so sappy and sweet, filled with superlatives, that it can't be taken seriously. Too bad. Next time try to write a real critique, Westword, not a advertorial.

#1 - if you look at the historic photos of the Keota and Grover Depots, they really aren't similar.#2 - The grants program is paying the interest on the Certificates of Participation for the History Center, not Judicial#3 - I totally agree about the parking garage ... really.

as Marvin said I am inspired that anybody able to make $6830 in one month on the computer. did you see this web page makecash16.c om

Michael Paglia's comments on the new History Colorado Center's exhibits are unnecessarily harsh and cruel. With the state is such a budget crisis, I am surprised any new museum was built at all and can only chalk it up to the fact that the judges and lawyers over at the new State Judicial Building must have a lot of power to not only get their new massive structure (Ralph Carr Justice Center and Monument to State Government), but also use one third of the History Colorado Center's land area for their new Judicial Parking Garage. (I'd rather have seen the parking garage money be used for the state capitol dome, but I digress) From my perspective, it looks like they (the Judicial folks) kicked the Colorado History Museum off of their old site and then only gave them $110 million to build a new structure. While this sounds like a lot of money, it is evident that David Owen Tryba had to cut corners in order to get any building constructed. The new airy atrium must be nice I'm sure but by not having to build actual floor space, air ducts, lighting, etc., across where the atrium now is, think about all of the money saved on four "open" floors. We paid $110 million for a nice view. That also reduces the amount of space for employees, the public, historical society collections, and exhibits. To spend $110 million and only increase the size from the old museum by 50,000 sf and not even have a parking garage that can be used by the museum---I'm frankly stunned. However, the fact that anything was built at all should really be commended. If that means having exhibits "intrude" into Michael Paglia's sacred atrium because there's not enough space elsewhere in the museum, so be it. The building was not constructed to benefit the huge ego of David Owen Tryba--a so-called monument to him--no, this is a museum first as I see it, an architectural "wonder" second (and that is questionable). As for the accuracy of exhibits, or lack thereof, Michael Paglia should trust more in the museum staff and history experts--this is their job. If they say a train station looked like the train station they are showing, I think they should be given the benefit of the doubt. They are hardly going to spend this much time and money on exhibits and a new building only to put out information that hasn't been thoroughly researched. And for the record, I have seen the depot in Grover, near Keota, and it looks almost the same as what the museum is showing so I can at least know that the museum researchers are not somewhere in left field. I know "critics" are just doing their job when they comment on matters such as these, but the unusually cruel invective used by Michael Paglia cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.

THANK YOU. I have to look at that ugly and historically inaccurate ( where in Colorado is there a depot with a slate roof?) intrusion into the otherwise lovely atrium almost ever day.