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New Pikes Peak Visitor Center Now Complete

Standing at 14,115 feet above sea level, Pikes Peak is home to majestic views, a National Historic Landmark, and more than a half a million visitors per year. For the past three years, it’s also been the highest ongoing construction site in North America, and mounted on its new $60 million, 38,000-square-feet Pikes Peak Visitor Center’s standing seam metal roof is S-5! ColorGard.

Constructed in material similar to Pikes Peak granite and designed for visitors to take in its surrounding beauty, richness and scenery, this three building campus — the Pikes Peak Summit Complex — features a visitor’s center with dining and rooftop terraces, observation decks and interactive displays and a high-altitude research and communications center. It offers sweeping views and features interpretive outdoor exhibits and digitally interactive displays on the history, significance and geology of Pikes Peak.

The weather on Pikes Peak is cold, icy, windy and generally unforgiving. By October, temperatures can plummet to zero, with wind chills falling even lower. Snowstorms sweep in quickly, with wind gusts reaching over 100 mph. During the winter, temperatures can drop to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Roof design snow loads are 125 pounds per-square-foot on the Peak versus an average of 30 pounds per-square-foot in nearby Denver.

S-5! Colorgard is easily installed any time of the year, which proved useful for this extreme weather project.

S-5! ColorGard was custom-designed and engineered for this project to withstand these extreme winter conditions and mitigate potential rooftop avalanches, dramatically reducing the risk of sudden and unexpected release of snow slides while providing a long-term solution for the life of the 22-gauge, DMC 200S, 2-inch mechanically seamed metal roof.

“We are honored to be part of this extraordinary project on ‘America’s Mountain’ right in our backyard,” said Rob Haddock, CEO and founder of S-5!. “The new Pikes Peak Summit Complex is an extraordinary place to visit, with unobstructed inspiring views — a place where all people can experience the summit of a magnificent Colorado 14er. And by the way, a companion natural attraction at the foot of the peak is the Garden of the Gods. Its visitor center also sports an S-5! ColorGard installation.”