Guggenheim Hall - 1st Architectural Design
Harlan Thomas, Architect
From the Colorado Transcript courtesy Denver Times,
1905
At the beginning of 1905, the Mines student body represented 22 nations on 6 continents. Many years before, an immigrant from one of those continents, Swiss migrant Meyer Guggenheim, found riches at the Colorado boom city of Leadville. His seven sons carried on the famed prosperity of their father, and proceeded to operate and acquire smelters across the nation. Soon, the Guggenheims controlled a vast empire that controlled the smelting industry, putting Golden smelters out of business in the process. To an embittered Golden community, Colorado son Simon Guggenheim made a surprise gesture of friendship in 1905: give a new, grand, main building to the State School of Mines, completely furnished, free of charge.
Wonderful and ornate concepts for the new building were brought forward, and noted Denver architect James Murdoch was finally selected to build Guggenheim Hall. For his design, Murdoch further delved into Mediterranean styles and the ornate window and stonework of the Rennaisance-era Italian palazzos. He designed a tile-roofed building around a central tower and twin curvilinear parapets and a grand central staircase entry. In 1905, 15th Street at Illinois was vacated, and Rundell, Mayer & Company began constructing Murdoch's grand design.
Guggenheim Hall - 2nd Architectural Design
James Murdoch, Architect
From the Colorado Transcript, 1905
No Golden building had stood this tall or ornate. Senator Guggenheim spent $80,000 to build what would become the central axis of the Mines campus, complete with administration offices, library, museum, classrooms and an opera house. The design centered on its tower, a great clock tower that would shine across the valley, with a chimes of musical bells tolling the hours. The tower's builders, however, encountered a surprise when they found they could not build the great clock due to no adequate technology being available to light it. Murdoch quickly redesigned the tower top in the form of a gold leafed cupola.
Guggenheim Hall - 3rd Architectural Design
James Murdoch, Architect
Illustration courtesy Gardner Family Collection
The golden dome was a nifty consolation prize for the community; it symbolized what Mines was all about, and has been an icon of the community ever since. Just because the clock didn't materialize was no reason the chimes shouldn't, however. In later years a chimes was installed for the tower. Continually playing today, it is an electronic version of an assembly of bells, which were the smaller form of a carillon, an instrument developed since medieval times as a system of large musical bells designed to tell cities and villages the hours of the day, warn of danger, perform musical pieces, and other uses. Other area colleges, including Westminster University, the University of Denver and the University of Colorado, also have been home to some of these great musical instruments Colorado has ever known.
Guggenheim Hall - Completed
Photo courtesy Golden History Center
On October 17, 1906, in a ceremony in the auditorium, Simon Guggenheim officially presented the keys to Guggenheim Hall to the School of Mines. Other Guggenheim Halls materialized across Colorado too, at the University of Colorado and University of Northern Colorado. However, Mines' Guggenheim Hall was the grandest. Editor Garrison reviewed "This magnificent building devoted to the eduction of young men in mining science and practical development of Colorado's chief resource will stand as a monument to the generosity of one of the noblest and best men, whose names are intertwined in Colorado's history." However, Guggenheim had flaws, as unfortunately did his new building, and its second design flaw soon became apparent when groundwater undermined its southwestern foundation, causing the building to begin crumbling. In the earliest known building warranty in Golden's history, Guggenheim replaced the damage free of charge, reconstructing Guggenheim Hall's southern wall in 1907. This was the third reconstruction Mines had to do; 50 feet of the Power Plant's heavy south wall fell in 1905 and had to be replaced too.