The thing that struck me most about this building was the color, gray and blue. The grey is actually white marble, the blue I haven’t gotten to the bottom of yet [update. Thanks to Eddie, see below in the comments, here’s the answer: https://denverite.com/2018/02/14/why-colorado-capitol-two-colors/ ]. The cupola is copper sheet covered in gold leaf from a Colorado mine and celebrates the Colorado gold rush.
It looked a bit like a half painted Airfix kit to my eye, but I loved how the cupola popped against the clouds.
Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
I looked up the coloration:
A Denverite reader recently asked us a question we’ve heard before: “Why is the Capitol’s dome a different tone of gray than the rest of the building? This happened when the dome was re-gilded, as I recall, and I thought the lower part would soon be repainted to match, but not yet.”
Short answer: It was always that color, deep down. And no, they’re not going to fix it.
Long answer: Back in 1871, when Colorado’s Capitol building was originally under construction, the entire building was painted the battleship gray color you now see so prominently on the upper part of the building, near the dome. According to lead tour guide, Janine Conklin, the color of the capitol building has changed due to the many re-paintings and renovations done over the buildings 151 year history.
In 2013, during the dome’s renovation, the original battleship gray paint was uncovered, and the experts decided to leave it untouched underneath the gilded dome. The state has no plans to re-paint the dome and make the entire building a uniform color, Conklin said. They will instead leave the original battleship gray on the dome as a testament to the interesting history of Denver’s capitol building.
Remember, you can ask your own mundane, weird or nagging questions at denverite.com/ask!
Here are a few more looks at the different grays:
The Colorado State Capitol, Feb. 14, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
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The Colorado State Capitol, Feb. 14, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
The Colorado State Capitol, Feb. 14, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
The Colorado State Capitol, Feb. 14, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Morning sunlight gleams through the Capitol building, Dec. 12, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
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Morning sunlight gleams through the Capitol building, Dec. 12, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Want some more? Explore other Ask Denverite stories.
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Interesting. Thank you! I was going to call the color battleship gray but went with blue for simplicity.