There’s a towering piece of history hidden in plain sight, overlooking downtown from the edge of Gold Hill Mesa. You’ve probably seen it while driving along Highway 24 between downtown and Pikes Peak. The 130-foot concrete smokestack that still stands on the north side of Gold Hill Mesa is all that remains of the once-lucrative Golden Cycle Mill. Now it is the center of an exciting vision for Gold Hill Mesa as the anchor for an outdoor amphitheater capturing the mesa’s spectacular views of Pikes Peak and downtown.
Stephanie Edwards, Executive Vice President and CMO of Gold Hill Mesa, envisions a venue able to host concerts for approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people. “The hillside location is ideally situated topographically for an amphitheater,” she says. “And it’s a great way to honor that smokestack and the vision of Gold Hill Mesa as a community crossroads.”
During Colorado’s Gold Rush of the late 1800s, mining towns such as Cripple Creek and Victor boomed in the Rocky Mountains. Hardy miners extracted valuable gold ore from deep within the earth, but it still had to be refined to extract the precious metal. To accomplish that, mining operators hauled the gold ore by train down from the mountains, and Colorado City (now part of Colorado Springs) boomed as the epicenter of gold refineries. Founded in 1905, the Golden Cycle Mill was the region’s largest refinery. The mill processed more than 40% of the gold ore from the illustrious Cripple Creek Mining District. Day and night the Golden Cycle Mill smelted 800 to 1,500 tons of gold ore a day at its peak.
“They crushed the ore, extracted the gold, poured it into gold bars and sent it to Denver’s Federal Reserve Bank,” Edwards says. “The Golden Cycle Mill was the top payroll in the state of Colorado for a period of time. It was vital to the existence of the city.”
By the mid-1900s Golden Cycle had processed more gold than any other mill worldwide and stood as a symbol of entrepreneurship. But as World War II refocused the nation’s economy, miners and materials were relocated to help the war effort. The Golden Cycle Mill closed its doors in 1949, having produced an estimated 483,771 pounds of gold. Its closure marked the end of an era, and the mill property sat dormant for nearly 50 years.
With a vision as ambitious as those former miners, the developers of Gold Hill Mesa saw a responsible opportunity to repurpose the scenic site and help Colorado Springs grow through sustainable infill. In 1998, development began, and they invested millions of dollars to rehabilitate the former industrial site. Today, Gold Hill Mesa is an award-winning community at the crossroads between downtown Colorado Springs and its mountains and trails beloved by local residents. Built on a foundation of ecological stewardship and Traditional Neighborhood Development, Gold Hill Mesa is home to 627 residences with plans to add an additional 600 homes and apartments on its north side. Commercial sites also are planned for its parcel bordering Highway 24 and 21st Street, with sites approved for retail, such as a hotel, grocery store, restaurants, microbreweries or other small businesses.
At the center of the new residential and commercial expansion stands the historic smokestack. Edwards envisions residents and neighbors walking between a concert and dinner or drinks down the hill. Gold Hill Mesa already draws large crowds to its summer and fall Music on the Mesa concert series in its Central Park and Community Center. And the community has hosted the ticketed Blues on the Mesa festival for the past few years.
Edwards envisions concerts at the amphitheater continuing that mix of free and ticketed shows by local, regional and national artists. “I hope we could do more intimate, higher priced charity concerts with national artists a few times each year,” she says.
Artistic vitality has long been the heartbeat of the Gold Hill Mesa community, and Edwards also dreams of art installations around the smokestack and amphitheater, perhaps in a way that honors and informs about the site’s history and role in the evolution of the city. “I would like to engage the arts community in the project because I really think it deserves some art and historic preservation,” she says.
Edwards admits she didn’t always view the smokestack that way. “When I first came on board, I wanted to get rid of it,” she says. “We wanted to revitalize the industrial past and make something new. But it didn’t take me long to study the history and realize that the smokestack is a special reminder of an important part of the city’s history. Actually, it’s an icon. We are committed to preserving it now.”
Preserving it and purposefully upcycling it into thriving community — just like Gold Hill Mesa has been doing all along.
Learn more about new homes and events at Gold Hill Mesa at goldhillmesa.com.
