Man Rescued After Climbing 100-Foot Sculpture in Denver Tech Center

A Colorado man is safe after spending nearly ten hours atop a 100-foot-tall sculpture in the Denver Tech Center.

The man climbed up the DTC Identity Monument at around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9. He did not come down until 2:35 a.m. Wednesday, according to Megan Copenhaver, spokesperson for the City of Greenwood Village.

He appeared to be suffering from a mental health crisis, Copenhaver says, adding that his motivation for climbing the sculpture is unknown.

A relative of the man ultimately helped to convince him to get onto a ladder, which the South Metro Fire Rescue used to lower him to the ground.

The man was transported to a hospital for evaluation; Copenhaver declines to comment on his current status. His name, age and other identifying information is not being released, which is the city’s policy when responding to a person in crisis. Copenhaver confirms that he is an adult.

No criminal charges have been brought against the man, Copenhaver says.

Drivers on Interstate 25 could see a person standing on the sculpture’s ladder-like steel piping on Tuesday evening, posting photos and videos of the situation on social media.

Officials shut down the interstate’s northbound off-ramp at East Belleview Avenue and DTC Parkway south of Belleview for several hours during the standoff. Both roads have since been completely reopened.

South Metro Fire Rescue declined to provide further details about the incident.

The DTC Identity Monument was created in 2008 as a landmark and symbol of the Denver Tech Center, a business and economic hub in Greenwood Village, twelve miles south of downtown Denver. It was founded in 1962 by George Wallace, a prominent Denver developer, as one of the first suburban office parks in the country.