Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, also known as Will Rogers Shrine or 5EP2175, is the tomb which holds the ashes of Spencer Penrose (1865–1939), a philanthropist who contributed many of the most prominent landmarks in Colorado Springs, including the neighboring Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Broadmoor Hotel. Completed by Penrose in 1937, it takes the form of an 80-foot observation tower on the side of Cheyenne Mountain. It overlooks the Broadmoor Hotel, and from the tower one can see the entire Colorado Springs metropolitan area and Garden of the Gods.
Persuaded not to name the structure after himself, Penrose instead named it in honor of his friend, Will Rogers, the American humorist who died in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935, during construction of the tomb.
The shrine is open, weather permitting, every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. The price of admission is included in the cost of tickets to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
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Famous quotes containing the words rogers, shrine and/or sun:
“Mine be a cot beside the hill;
A bee-hive’s hum shall soothe my ear;
A willowy brook, that turns a mill,
With many a fall shall linger near.”
—Samuel Rogers (1763–1855)
“The United Nations cannot do anything, and never could; it is not an animate entity or agent. It is a place, a stage, a forum and a shrine ... a place to which powerful people can repair when they are fearful about the course on which their own rhetoric seems to be propelling them.”
—Conor Cruise O’Brien (b. 1917)
“The sun shineth upon the dunghill, and is not corrupted.”
—John Lyly (1554–1606)