Spa Building

The site marks the birthplace of Manitou Springs, centered on the historically significant mineral waters of the Manitou Soda Spring. Cheyenne, Arapahoes, Utes, and others regarded the springs as special, sacred places inhabited by the Great Spirit, and used the natural soda springs for medicinal and regenerative purposes, soothing digestion and weathered skin. The Ute Pass hunting trail ended here, where all could benefit from the waters without conflict. In 1872, an Adirondack-style gazebo was built near the spring, and in 1885 it was moved to make way for a grander Victorian pavilion, where visitors enjoyed natural soda water or mineral water lemonade and shopped in Davis' Curio and Jewelry Store. By 1916, an iron fence, light fixtures, and entry structure, later incorporated into Patsy's Candy building to the east, prevented free access to the water. The pavilion was demolished in 1920 in favor of the current three-story Spanish Colonial Revival building, constructed of fireproof concrete with a fourth-floor tower, red tile roof, and copper-clad storefronts. One of few facilities of its type still standing, it was supervised in construction and fitting-out by bath house expert John Fordyce as a modern mineral water treatment center meant to help salvage Manitou Springs' dwindling health resort market. The first floor held small shops, the second baths and treatment rooms, and the third overnight accommodations, with the Manitou Soda Spring central in the first-floor rotunda. The second and third floors were used residentially starting in the 1960s. The building was vacated in 1999 because of disrepair, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and in 2000 was designated on Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s Most Endangered Places list and the National Trust's Save America's Treasures program.

Manitou Springs, Colorado · United States