2 minute read
Colorado Welcome Center celebrates 25th anniversary
By Sue Carter Welcome Center manager
On Wednesday, June 23 the Colorado Welcome Center at Julesburg will be celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Developing the Welcome Center took 10 years, from its planning to its opening day on Feb. 8, 1996. The ef fort was a concer ted one by many dif ferent entities helping in various ways to finish the goal.
The Welcome Center has a Native American and pioneer motif, with silhouettes of buf falo scattered out among trees and native grass and teepees over the picnic tables. The wooden archway symbolizes an entrance to a large western ranch and is marked with a figure of a Pony Express rider. The running horse logo was designed by local ar tist Gary Lancaster.
Visitors pass into an open cour tyard which features large wooden pillars and old- time light poles. In the plaza sits a large sculpture entitled “Swept Away.” The blue heron in the sculpture signifies the large abundance of wildlife in the area.
The half circle design of the building is representative of a
The Colorado Welcome Center at Julesburg has a 35-foot observation tower and is shaped in a half circle to symbolize a wheel. (File photo)
wheel and shows the significance of transpor tation to the area. There are walking paths, dog exercise areas and an RV dump.
At the entrance to the Welcome Center proudly on display is the Pony Express statue which was made at a cost of $110,000 sponsored by local patrons and the Col-
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• Free Wi-Fi • Free parking • Air-conditioned • Flat Screen TVs orado Division of the National Pony Express Association. The interior of the building is designed with high, open-beamed ceilings, patina lights and oaken fixtures. The building features a 35-foot tower and obser vation area. The Welcome Center’s lobby features “The Ritual,” a steel sculpture of a male and female eagle with talons locked in a free-fall, created and donated by Julesburg Ar tist Terr y Hinde.
Inside a large ar tistic map of Colorado can be found along with over 350 brochures to assist the over 6,000,000 plus visitors that have stopped in the last 25 years. A Penny Press owned by For t Sedgwick Park has also been added with four unique designs depicting our area histor y. The Welcome Center is staf fed by two employees and 50 volunteers many with volunteer hours totaling in the thousands and is a collaborative effor t with the State
A silhouette of the Pony Express horse and rider appears on a nearby tipi at the Colorado Welcome Center at the I-76 interchange at Julesburg. (Courtesy photo)
Tourism Of fice and Sedgwick County.
The Welcome Center is planning to celebrate its 25th anniversar y with an open house with a dinner and enter tainment to kick off the Pony Express Re-Ride through Julesburg and Sedgwick County that will take place on the morning of June 24.
