Starting soon, the Summit House on Pikes Peak is going to be built and worked on until the year 2020. The last Summit House was built in 1960, officially opened in 1964, and is now crumbling and falling to the ground.

New and old visitors are excited to visit the newly designed building when it opens. “I’m super excited for the new building, I think it’ll be really cool and a nice reward after hiking to the peak,” Anya Matejczyk, 9, says “It’s going to be great for tourists and regulars.”

The new structure will consist of four new buildings and will be a 26,000 square-foot complex. On the plan, the building is going to have solar panels, overlooks, and be mostly one story. “Well I know it’s supposed to be big, to welcome all the people who are going to be really excited about it,” says Matejczyk. “There’s going to be an awesome view, good food, and fun stuff to do. I’m really excited.”

“Everyone can have fun taking a hike to the top,” Matejczyk exclaims. “Whether it’s a personal accomplishment or goal, or for a fun family trip, it’s going to be really exciting to finally reach the top after working so hard, I think.” From young ages to old, this is going to be a big improvement for people who work hard to reach the summit or people who take other means of transportation.

The new structure is going to include a restaurant, gift shop, and a museum that will take visitors into our rich history. There will also be a new sign, featuring the correct elevation of the house; 14,115 feet above sea level.

To build the enormous Summit House, the arm is donating $3.5 million to revamp the order house while visitors are waiting for the new house to be opened. Meanwhile, the new building is going to cost around $20 million.

“I feel like everyone is waiting for the huge place to finally be done already, but we still have quite a while to go,” Matejczyk says. The house has been dreamt of rebuilding since the 90’s and now that our state is finally getting around to it, everyone is getting antsy.

“Obviously, I’m really excited and can’t wait to go with my family and when I’m older to go with friends. It’s going to be so much fun” Matejczyk declares.

The view from the new Summit House is going to give visitors a look into Katharine Lee Bates’ eyes when she wrote the song “America the Beautiful” for our country.