U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum Opens With Social Distanced Ribbon Cutting
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum officially opened to visitors on Thursday. It's located at 200 S. Sierra Madre Street in Colorado Springs.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke at the opening event and took part in the ribbon cutting. Approximately 80 people were in attendance wearing masks, and there was strict adherence to social distancing guidelines.
The state-of-the-art building includes a number of displays about historic Olympic wins. Multiple medals from various Olympic games are featured, as well as historic Olympic torches carried by world-renowned athletes. Uniforms of Olympic and Paralympic athletes over the years are also featured.
Polis called the ribbon cutting a "well done event" and says the museum is a "crowning achievement."
"When travel resumes to normal, this will be a site for international visitation and national visitation. Part of the Colorado experience for people who come (to El Paso County). They'll enjoy Garden of the Gods, the Air Force Academy, which is also having some major improvements, the Olympic Museum," Polis said.
PHOTO GALLERY: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum Grand Opening
General admission tickets are on sale and range from $15 to $25. There's a timed entrance system in place so social distancing is preserved.
The project was conceived in 2012, as Olympic leaders looked to establish the first full-fledged Olympic museum in the United States. The Olympic Training Center, located a few miles from the museum in downtown Colorado Springs, draws more than 130,000 visitors a year but had limited exhibit space.
For more information, visit usopm.org.