Former Railroad Passenger Station in Colorado Springs

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger Depot, Colorado Springs Colorado

Date added: October 03, 2024

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In 1915 the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, a major carrier in Colorado since the 1870s, decided to build a large railway station in Colorado Springs. E.A. Harrison of Chicago designed the structure; and his drawings, dated June 5^th, 1916, are now on file in the Pike's Peak Regional Library in Colorado Springs. Construction went forward despite the nation's slow drift into World War I; and on September 15^th, 1917, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that "the railroad company will be occupying the finest station in the entire west devoted exclusively to passenger traffic." The edifice had cost $325,000. For the next half-century the Depot served its purpose as the point of arrival and departure for travelers, but after World War II with the collapse of the nation's system of passenger trains, the station gradually fell into disuse and was finally abandoned by the railroad in the early 1970s. It lay idle for much of the decade until its purchase by developers who intend to "recycle" the building into a store and office complex.

From an architectural perspective, the Depot is set in the style of the Jacobethan Revival. The windows are rectangular, and there are several bay windows accentuating the facades. The high gables are steep and triangular in form. Part of the roof is ridged; part is flat and parapeted. Some doorways are set beneath round arches. And a light-colored cement and stone treatment for decoration contrasts sharply with the red brick used as the primary building material. All these are the characteristic features of the Jacobethan Revival style.

Building Description

Located at 555 East Pikes Peak Avenue in the east end of the downtown area of Colorado Springs, the Santa Fe passenger depot is a single detached structure rectangular in shape. The center portion of the building is two and one-half stories with a one-story baggage room on the south end and a covered passenger waiting area on the north end of the building. The east and west facades of the building have arched covered entry porches. The foundation is poured concrete.

The exterior is a hard-burned red brick set in stretcher bond with cut stone lintels over the head of the windows and doors. Cut stone also accents the archways that lead to the east and west entries. The two-story part of the building has a truncated hip roof pierced by gabled dormers, but the one-story baggage room on the south and the one-story covered passenger waiting area on the north both have flat roofs with trimmed stone parapets. The hip roof is covered with green tile. There are two major entrances: the west entry facing the downtown and the east entry facing the old track area. The windows are wood double-hung with divided lights and stone sills. There are two bay windows facing east and two facing west. The exterior passenger waiting area contains benches formed from concrete.

The interior of the depot is in the process of renovation. The north end of the building contains a restaurant on the first floor, and offices and sleeping quarters on the second floor. The center portion of the building has a two-story concourse (28' high) that contains the ticket counter, cigar and newsstand, and the passenger waiting area with its large oak benches and chandeliers. The south portion of the building contains the restroom, lounge areas, and the baggage room on the first floor; there are offices on the second floor. The floors in the central portion of the building have square red pavers. The restaurant walls feature some very intricate tile work.