Valentines, Capital Projects, and the Mountaineering Museum

Golden Eye Candy – Richard Luckin – Winter Creek – enlarge

Virtual Events

6-6:55AM Virtual Dynamic Circuit
8:30-9:30AM Virtual Power Training
10-10:55AM All Levels Yoga Virtual
10:15-10:45AM Virtual: Cuentacuentos
11-11:55AM Find Your Balance
4-4:30PM Kids Martial Arts Class
5:30-6:30PM Step Circuit
2-3PM Virtual/Call In: Active Minds Mondays – Composers in Love

*New half-block sidewalk to be funded by GURA* – Google Satellite Images

6:30PM GURA Board Meeting @ City Hall
GURA will discuss sever “Small Capital Projects,” include a connection between 8th and 10th Street near the Community Garden, bike/pedestrian improvements near the high school, bike/ped improvements on Jackson Street south of 24th, bike/ped improvements on the SE corner of Johnson Road and US6, and building a 1/2 block sidewalk along Ford Street, north of 24th, at the cost of $25-30K.

Staff will update the board on several topics. DeLong Park is nearly complete and will be dedicated this spring. Residents are moving into the Flats on Ford housing project and 24th & Ford. The boarding house project in Gateway Village is scheduled for completion in May. A site development plan application has been submitted for 17200 W. Coflax (map)

Real World Events

6-9PM Golden Game Guild Meet-Up Mondays @ Golden Game Guild
12-4PM Stich’n B*tch @ Golden Quilt Company
12-9PM 5th Annual Valentine’s Day Beer + Chocolate Truffle Pairing @ New Terrain
2-3PM Virtual/Call In: Active Minds Mondays
6PM Love Birds Valentine Paint & Sip Class @ Over Yonder

Golden History Moment:
Heart and Soul of Golden

Contributed by Katie Sauter, Curator – American Mountaineering Museum
and Director – American Alpine Club Library

The Building
The American Mountaineering Center opened in 1924 as the Golden High School. It served as the high school from 1924-1956, and then as the Golden Junior High from 1956-1988. The building is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. It was designed by architect Eugene Groves and is significant as an example of the Beaux-Arts style.

*“Dawn of the West” is located on the second floor of the Mountaineering Center – enlarge*

One of the highlights that remains in the building is the mural by Gerald Cassidy, “Dawn of the West,” which can be seen on the second floor. It was commissioned in 1928 by Jesse Rubey in memory of his brother.

The American Mountaineering Center
In 1992, the Golden Civic Foundation purchased the vacant school building for $50,000 and made it available to the American Alpine Club, which was located in New York City at the time, and to the Colorado Mountain Club. Outward Bound joined soon after. The building underwent significant renovations and opened as the American Mountaineering Center in 1994. The American Alpine Club also moved its world class library, containing 18,000 volumes at that time, to Golden.

*The precursor to the Mountaineering Museum, located in a carriage house at the Alpine Club’s previous home in New York City – enlarge*

The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum
The American Mountaineering Museum opened in February 2008, but its story begins in 1949 when the American Alpine Club moved to a 19th century firehouse in New York City. The firehouse had a carriage house in the back, which was converted into a small alpine museum.

*After the move to Golden, the school gymnasium was renovated to create the museum – Before and* After – enlarge

When the club moved to Golden, the school gymnasium was renovated to create the museum. A lot of work went into its construction. Thanks to the generosity of mountaineers from around the world, the collection has grown to include over 5,000 pieces of gear, slides, prints, outfits, and cultural artifacts.

*Building the museum’s grand staircase and the crevasse beneath it – enlarge*

This is the first and only museum in the nation dedicated to mountaineering history. It contains 3,500 square feet of exhibits on climate, science, cultures, and the humanities as they relate to mountains.

*Unloading a portion of the large scale Everest model*

Bradford Washburn
Bradford Washburn was best known as a photographer, explorer, mountaineer, and cartographer. He was also the director of the Boston Museum of Science from 1939-1980. He primarily climbed in Alaska and the Yukon. His wife, Barbara Washburn was the first woman to climb Denali. Brad and Barbara Washburn’s ice axes can be seen on display in the museum.

The American Mountaineering Museum is open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm, and Saturday, Noon-5pm. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for American Alpine Club and Colorado Mountain Club members, $3 for youth (ages 6-16) and free for children 5 and under. Learn more….

Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!