Below the feet of lawmakers, lobbyists and school groups, a maze of tunnels stretches beneath the Colorado Capitol. Few of those stepping above are aware of the labyrinth. Even fewer will ever see it.
Along miles of pipes and steam conduits, cables and storage spaces, historians have found extra marble and cornices for future repairs of the Capitol, as well as antique wagon wheels in perfect condition. Steel rails show where dusty old cars brought in coal a century ago.
The honeycomb of tunnels leading hundreds of yards away under streets to surrounding buildings is so vast, even a historian associated with the Colorado Historical Society who guided a recent private tour got lost.
“I have no idea where we are right now,” Debra Faulkner said, laughing.
According to Colorado.gov, the vast network still connects the Legislative Services Building, the State Office Building, State Services Building and State Capitol Annex to the State Capitol.
Typically, it’s only main-
tenance crews who roam the underground tunnel network. But lately there have been new workers there, installing a fire-alarm system as part of $15 million in grants from the State Historical Fund.
Amid the tunnels, chambers and vaults, the new detection equipment was recently triggered by a welder, unaware that the grid had been wired in a safety upgrade.
Much of the system is utilitarian concrete corridors, stacked with stored fire extinguishers and lined with surplus doors, but portions are made of beautiful rough-hewn limestone.
“It’s interesting to see the skeleton of the building, and in some ways, it’s just as beautiful as the finishes that are in the public spaces,” said Alyson McGee, public outreach coordinator for the State Historical Fund.
Although the tunnel system has been there since construction began on the Capitol in 1886, it still is a source of lore.
Some of the more recent visitors to the tunnel complex were Ku Klux Klansmen. During a 1992 demonstration during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march, a race riot nearly broke out, according to “The Colorado State Capitol: History, Politics, Preservation,” a new book by Derek R. Everett. Colorado State Patrol officers evacuated Klan members through the tunnels.
A website hosted by Angel
fire.com hints at one early denizen. A woman in turn-of-
the-century clothing is said to haunt the whole expanse of tunnels, inquisitively reading over the shoulders of employees.
The tunnels were home to a grisly bit of Colorado history. Everett writes that, after an 1860s rampage against white settlers, the notorious Espinosa brothers of the San Luis Valley were beheaded by a bounty hunter, who sent their heads to Gov. John Evans. According to the book, “the skulls remained in a box in the Capitol’s tunnels until sometime in the late 1930s, when crews cleaning out the sub-basement incinerated them in the boiler furnaces, destroying forever the most grotesque artifacts ever to find a home in the statehouse.”
Another mystery involves lost treasure. Allegedly, a caretaker once lived in the catacombs and for decades stoked the Capitol’s underground boilers. He always insisted on getting paid in silver dollars.
“Apparently he lived off of scraps from the cafeteria, so when he died everyone assumed there would be a great stash of silver dollars down here, but they never have been uncovered,” said Faulkner.
People who take tours of the Capitol are captivated by the story, but they don’t get to search for the money. The tunnels aren’t open to the public.
9News anchor Ward Lucas can be reached at 303-871-1499 or ward.lucas@9news.com.
