World City Guide

Key Attractions

Denver Art Museum
More than 40,000 works of art are housed on seven floors of this striking building, designed by I M Pei, architect of the pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre in Paris, France. The collection includes American, European and Asian art, with galleries devoted to modern and contemporary works, and art of the American West. The highlights, however, are the fabulous collection of Native American art, on the fourth floor, and the exquisite collection of pre-Columbian works from Central and South America on the fifth floor. This outstanding museum is set to double in size, with a new, adjacent building scheduled for completion in 2004.

13th Street and Acoma Street
Tel: (720) 865 5000.
Website: www.denverartmuseum.org
Transport: Cultural Connection Trolley, any bus along Colfax Avenue, Lincoln Street or Broadway.
Opening hours: Tues, Thurs-Sat 1000-1700, Wed 1000-2100, Sun 1200-1700.
Admission: US$6 (concessions available).

Colorado’s Ocean Journey
This exciting attraction houses more than 15,000 fish, mammals and plants in two imaginative river journeys. The Colorado River flows into the same ocean as the Kampar River in Sumatra – on opposite sides of the globe. Both rivers start at 36,600m (12,000ft) above sea level and reach the Pacific Ocean through completely different ecosystems. Visitors can follow the journeys of both rivers in this enormous world-class exhibition, part aquarium, part zoo and part theme park.

The Colorado River crashes through mountain waterfalls, trout streams, arid red rock canyons and flash floods on its way to the Sea of Cortez. The Kampar River winds down from the mountains of Sumatra through tropical rainforest, where parrots fly free and tigers lurk near the clear waters of a coral reef, sheltering sharks and multicoloured tropical fish.

700 Water Street
Tel: (303) 561 4450.
Website: www.oceanjourney.org
Transport: Bus 10.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800 (summer); daily 1000-1700 (winter); last admission one hour before closing.
Admission: US$14.95; concessions available; US$6 for parking.

Colorado State Capitol
Built in 1908, in the domed classical style, Colorado State Capitol embodies the confident civic pride of the young America at the turn of the century. The brilliant dome gleams with 24-carat gold leaf, outdone only by the unique rose-colored Colorado onyx wainscoting inside. Quarried in Beulah, Colorado, the entire world supply of this onyx was used here. The highlight for the fit and healthy visitor is the winding 93-step climb to the top of the dome, rewarded by panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains. Back at ground level, a brass marker on the steps reminds visitors that they are still ‘one mile above sea level’.

200 East Colfax Avenue, at Broadway
Tel: (303) 866 2604.
Website: www.archives.state.co.us/cap/first.htm
Transport: Cultural Connection Trolley, any bus along Colfax Avenue, Lincoln Street or Broadway.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0700-1730; tours depart every 45 minutes, 0915-1430; dome open 0900-1530.
Admission: Free.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The fourth largest museum of its kind in America houses exhibits that explore earth and the creatures that live on it. Among the highlights are the world-famous handcrafted dioramas, depicting animals from around the globe in realistic settings. The most memorable exhibit is the US$7-million Dollar Prehistoric Journey, which takes visitors back to the era of the dinosaurs. The walk through ‘envioramas’ of prehistoric earth features aggressive giant dinosaurs, complete with sound effects. Other features include interactive investigations of the human body in the Hall of Life, the galaxies of the planetarium and the realistic movie adventures in the IMAX theatre. Opening in mid-2003, Space Odyssey will be one of the largest space exhibitions in the nation, with a digital planetarium and simulated space journeys.

2001 Colorado Boulevard
Tel: (303) 322 7009 or (800) 925 2250.
Website: www.dmnh.org
Transport: Cultural Connection Trolley, or any bus along Colfax Avenue or Colorado Boulevard.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Admission: US$8 (museum); US$8 (IMAX); US$12 (combination ticket); concessions available.

Molly Brown House Museum
The spacious, three-storey Molly Brown House Museum was built in 1890 and sold to the Browns in 1894, for US$30,000. Now restored to its original splendour of draped velvet, lace, polished wood and rich carved furniture, the house affords not only a glimpse into the opulent lifestyle of Victorian Denver’s upper-middle class but also brings to life one of the most exuberant characters of the Denver gold rush. By her own account, Molly Brown was the ‘unsinkable’ heroine of the Titanic disaster and the house is full of mementoes of this socialite’s extraordinary existence. In the holiday season, the house is decked out in a re-creation of one of Molly’s legendary Christmas parties.

1340 Pennsylvania Street (two blocks south of Colfax Avenue)
Tel: (303) 832 4092.
Website: www.mollybrown.org
Transport: Cultural Connection Trolley; any bus along Colfax Avenue.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1600, Sun 1200-1600 (Sep-May); Mon-Sat 0930-1600, Sun 1200-1600 (Jun-Aug).
Admission: US$6.50 (concessions available).

Black American West Museum & Heritage Center
This small but fascinating history museum is dedicated to the Black American men and women who helped settle the American West. Although seldom portrayed in film and television, one third of the working cowboys in the Old West were African Americans, many of them freed slaves who migrated west after the Civil War. Photographs, documents, oral histories, exhibits and memorabilia tell their story. The museum is housed in the former home of Dr Justina Ford, Denver’s first African American doctor.

3901 California Street
Tel: (303) 292 2566.
Website: www.blackamericanwest.org
Transport: Light rail, 30th and Downing stop.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (Jun-mid Sep); Wed-Fri 1000-1400, Sat and Sun 1000-1700 (mid Sep-May).
Admission: US$6.

Colorado History Museum
Colorado’s colourful history of mountain men, buffalo hunters, Native Americans, gold panners, miners, sodbusters and railroads comes to life in this innovative museum. Among the highlights are a series of miniature dioramas that depict frontier scenes, such as a Cheyenne village and a buffalo hunt. There are also displays on the silver king Horace Tabor and his wife Baby Doe, as well as exhibits from the Anasazi cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.

1300 Broadway
Tel: (303) 866 3682.
Website: www.coloradohistory.org
Transport: Cultural Connection Trolley; any bus along Colfax Avenue, Lincoln Street or Broadway.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-1630, Sun 1200-1630.
Admission: US$5.