Beautiful workmanship

Here's my mom ascending the main staircase inside the Pioneers Museum on Thursday. We were amazed at the fine workmanship on the balustrade. That was just par for the course in 1903, but can you imagine that being the norm now? You can see that in addition to the balustrade, the ceilings are ornately painted. Many of the wall surfaces are also faux-marbled. It's incredible and it must have taken so much time and dedicated workmanship. These days, a building like this would go up in three months or less and would look like the prefabricated cr*p that it is (pardon my French).

The Pioneers Museum was originally called the El Paso County Courthouse and served in that capacity until the 1970s. It really is the crown jewel of our downtown. Its architect, Augustus Smith, designed it beautifully, down to the last detail. There's even an old-fashioned, ornate cage elevator that still functions like brand new. It really is a gorgeous, gracious old building, and it continues to serve this community as a wonderful museum filled with artifacts of our city's history. I highly recommend that you visit it if you ever make it to Colorado Springs. Admission is free!