Sights in Denver
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Dancers
Frozen in joyful two-step, Jonathan Borofsky's whimsical 'Dancers' invite rushing traffic to stop and play. The centerpiece of Sculpture Park, they supervise live music and lounging picnickers in summer and rise eerily from the snow in winter. Initially a controversial buy for conservative citizens, they're a symbol on scale with Denver's ambition to be the cultural capital of the West.
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Colorado State Capitol
Sitting commandingly atop Capitol Hill, this stately neoclassical government building looks out across the grand Civic Center Park region. The ornate interior befits such a grand building, and visitors can join free tours that depart every 45 minutes.
Construction began in the 1890s from locally quarried rose onyx (Beulah red marble) and in 1908, to celebrate the Colorado gold rush, the superb dome was covered in 200 ounces of gold leaf. In 1909 the 15th step on the western entrance was designated one mile above sea level. Subsequent measures inscribed this marker at the 17th step in 1969, and the 13th in 2003.
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Denver Public Library
Hardly a dusty bibliotheca, the Denver Public Library is an active and hip place. In addition to its voluminous stacks, the library lends CDs and DVDs from its extensive archive, and it streams music from its website. There's a schedule of lectures, and self-help and skills courses. Shifting exhibits feature local historical and contemporary photography.
Book a meeting room or join one of the community-learning sessions. On the 5th floor is the Western History & Genealogy Deptartment and affiliate campuses include the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library.
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Denver Art Museum
The DAM is home to one of the largest Native American art collections in the USA, and puts on special avant-garde multimedia exhibits. The Western American Art section of the permanent collection is justifiably famous.
The $110-million Frederic C Hamilton wing, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is a strange, angular, fan-like edifice. It's inspired and mesmerizing. If you think the place looks weird from the outside, look inside: here shapes shift with each turn thanks to a combination of design and uncanny natural-light tricks.
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Confluence Park
This wonderful place of healthy outdoors activity is a magnet for families with picnic blankets and prepared lunches, smooching young lovers and singles buried in a book or newspaper. Cool off on a hot summer's day by swimming or wading over the rocks.
Confluence Park is where the Cherry Creek and Platte River meet, and bike/jogging trails connect it to all the other waterfront parks. It's a wonderfully egalitarian place where all types from all backgrounds come to celebrate their city.
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Molly Brown House Museum
This outstandingly preserved house, designed by the well-known architect William Lang, was built in 1889 and belonged to the most famous survivor of the Titanic disaster. Having survived the ill-fated voyage she became active in progressive politics and women’s organizations, and was a keen theater performer. She died in 1922, a woman ahead of her time.
Molly Brown House offers educational workshops, residencies and scholarships.
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Denver Firefighters Museum
Fire Station No 1 was built in 1909 and in 1978 was turned into a museum that explores the history of firefighting in Denver. See the old steam equipment, slide down a pole and get kitted out in some firefighting gear. The upstairs section is the old quarters where the firemen slept.
The galleries include a dedicated children’s section with interactive displays based on fire-safety education. Great for kids and fascinating for adults.
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Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library
Dedicated to the history and culture of African American people of Denver, Colorado and the Rocky Mountains region, this institution provides fabulous resources on this rich cultural heritage. Art, music, literature, religion and oral histories are documented, and an active research program continues with the help of visitor donations and philanthropists. The Blair-Caldwell Library is affiliated with the Denver Public Library.
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Byers-Evans House Museum
It's an amazing experience walking through this period house, painstakingly restored to the 1920s era; the rooms aren't roped off so you can wander into them. Guided tours run every half-hour from 10.30am to 2.30pm.
William Byers was the publisher of the Rocky Mountains News when he commissioned this grand house in 1883. He soon sold it to William Gray Evans who was with the Denver Tramway Company.
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Children's Museum
If you've got the kids, check out the Children’s Museum, full of excellent interactive exhibits. A particularly well-regarded section is the kid-size grocery store, where your little consumerists can push a shopping cart of their very own while learning about food and health. In the ARTS a la Carte section kids can get creative with crafts that they can take home – all use recycled materials.
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Forney Transportation Museum
This fascinating museum exhibits antique vehicles of all types – cars, motorbikes, bicycles, tricycles, railway engines and rolling stock, fire engines, airplanes and more. Even if you’re not an automotive aficionado, the shifting industrial design over the years is interesting. Among many highlights is Amelia Earhart’s 1923 Kissel Speedstar in stunning canary yellow.
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United States Mint
The Denver Mint produces about 7.5 billion coins each year and offers free guided tours each weekday. A limited number of standby tickets are available at the door, but it’s best to book through the website. You’re not allowed to take purses, handbags or strollers into the facility, and guns, knives, fireworks and martial arts weapons are expressively forbidden. You’ve been warned!
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Mesteño
Nicknamed 'Bluecifer,' this 32-ft blue stallion with hellish, gleaming red eyes greets visitors to and from DIA, and is the subject of much controversy in Denver. Morbid factoid: during its creation, one of the stallion's legs fell on creator Luis Jiménez, severing an artery in his leg and leading to his death.
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Denver Zoo
Denver’s world-class zoo has more than 650 animal species represented in naturalistic settings in considerate enclosures. There are native and exotic animals including rhinos, gorillas and giant Komodo dragons. An active breeding program is helping arrest the loss of endangered species. A schedule of monthly free-admission days is published on the zoo’s website.
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Colorado Sports Hall of Fame
This temple to Colorado's sporting prowess is in the INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium, with exhibits on the Broncos and themes grouped under such purple headings as 'endurance' and 'sacrifice.' It's nothing to go out of your way for, but a good way to kill time before an event at the stadium.
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I See What You Mean
Lawrence Argent's I See What You Mean is better known around town as the Big Blue Bear, who peers into the mammoth convention center as if wondering 'What are those little pink conventioneers prattling on about?' Standing at the feet of the 40ft tall beast to take in the blue sky above is among the city's most provocative vistas.
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Yearling
This wonderful sculpture by Donald Lipski sits outside the Denver Public Library, where it was installed in 1998 after spending a year in New York City's Central Park. The Horse on the Chair, as it's known, stands 21ft high and has a whimsy, humor and magic to it that has helped it become one of the city's favorite landmarks.
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Millennium Bridge
Allow us to be geeky for a second: this is the world’s first cable-stayed bridge using a post-tensioned structural construction. If the technical jargon goes over your head, you'll be impressed by just looking up – the sweeping forms of the cables and white mast are a dramatic site against Denver's consistently blue sky.
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Bronco Buster
Denver sculptor A Phimister Proctor became nationally famous with this 1920 bronze of the Bronco Buster, a symbol of the city. Fun fact: Proctor's model for the cowboy was arrested for murder before the statue was done. At Proctor's insistence, the accused was allowed to continue posing until the sculpture was finished.
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Commons Park
Affording views of the city and a bit of fresh air, this spacious, hilly patch of green is the best place to take yourself out of the Downtown bustle. There are bike paths, benches and plenty of people sprawling out with take-away lunch. You can also access Denver's best stroll, along the Platte River Parkway.
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Downtown Aquarium
Denver's old Ocean Journey Aquarium was sold in 2003 to a business that specializes in aquarium-themed restaurants. So it is that Downtown Aquarium is both a novelty restaurant and a public aquarium (and tiger den). It's a great place to take the kids...and a novel place to have a meal. Try the fish burger.
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Illiterate Media
This gallery grew out of Illiterate Magazine, a locally published art publication, and their thrust maintains a multidisciplinary edge, hosting events and hanging shows of regional artists such as Denver painter Ravi Zupa. Progressive and hip, its fits in perfectly in the South Broadway neighborhood.
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Elitch Gardens
If you’re finding all the museums a bit too serious, loosen up here – your kids will love you for it. This amusement park is packed with nearly 50 rides, with varying levels of fright-inducement. Opening times vary, so call for the season’s schedule. Tickets purchased online receive a $2 discount.
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Museum of Contemporary Art
This space was built with interaction and engagement in mind – there's no front door – and Denver's home for contemporary art can be provocative, delightful or a bit disappointing, depending on the show. The focus is on mixed media contemporary works from American and international artists.
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Denver Botanic Gardens
If you’re hankering for greenery, this 23-acre expanse of Rocky Mountains shrubbery is the perfect place in which to hide from the hustle and bustle of the city. Local flora mixes it up with far away relatives from continents such as Australia and Africa. Exhibitions and events are staged.
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