By Photo: Boston Public Library, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Spencer Penrose made his fortune in the Cripple Creek gold district and in copper and then spent much of it shaping Colorado Springs. His largest project was the Broadmoor, a grand resort hotel that opened in 1918 beside a lake at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain.
Penrose wanted a hotel to rival the best in Europe, and he hired the New York firm that had designed Grand Central Terminal. He also built the road up Cheyenne Mountain, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, and he paved the Pikes Peak Highway to attract motorists.
A modern resort
The Broadmoor has grown into a resort with hundreds of rooms, golf courses, restaurants and a spa. It has held a five-star rating for decades. Billionaire Philip Anschutz’s company bought it in 2011 and has since added remote properties, including fishing and wilderness lodges, and has taken over the Pikes Peak Cog Railway.
Economic weight
The resort is one of the major private employers in Colorado Springs and an important source of conventions and high-end tourism. It hosts golf championships, including U.S. Women’s Opens, and a number of business conferences each year.
The El Pomar Foundation, which Penrose and his wife Julie founded in 1937, is one of Colorado’s largest private foundations. It continues to give money to nonprofits around the state, which means that Penrose’s mining wealth still has an impact on Colorado well beyond the hotel.
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