While most in the crowd were in a cheery mood Thursday evening, Chuck Harmon seemed especially so.

Dressed in a black button-down shirt patterned with an array of colorful cocktails, the mayor of Idaho Springs welcomed conversation after conversation with those in attendance at the private event in front of Union Station.

“I’m relieved,” Harmon said. “I’m really relieved this is actually happening.”

The event was one the mayor of the small mountain town had been looking forward to for a long time. A celebration of a tumultuous half-decade filled with uncertainty that the project envisioned by locals and historic preservationists alike would ever be completed.

Following several years of limbo and a multimillion-dollar scam that threatened to sink the entire endeavor, the Mighty Argo Cable Car was unveiled in front of Denver’s historic train hub Thursday evening.

A $71 million project that will become the centerpiece of Idaho Springs’ historic Argo Gold Mill & Tunnel, the 1.25-mile gondola will house 27 cabins — 22 for passengers and five for bicycles — when it ascends 1,300 feet to the top of Virginia Canyon and a mountain top plaza.

From there, visitors will be able to enjoy the Rocky Mountain views, partake in an on-site saloon and amphitheater, or utilize more than 15 miles of area hiking and biking trails.

The cable car’s cabs, creations of the German Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group, an international gondola manufacturer that Harmon confirmed was also an investor in the project, each feature 10 inward-facing seats, five on each side, lined with tan wood paneling, a glass floor and tall, thin doors that open outward.

On the outside, the car’s siding is accentuated with a deep gold color, an intentionally earthy tone to help commemorate the area’s ties to the mountains and minerals that historically lied within.

The project began in 2019 with support from Denver’s famed preservationist Dana Crawford, who heavily assisted in bringing the project to its full realization, said Mighty Argo Cable Car founder Mary Jane Loevlie.

“She was so instrumental in the design aesthetic and the beauty, and bringing the two — outdoor recreation and mining — together, and making them blend well for the visitor,” Loevlie said. “Her mantra was to have things be beautiful from every side, no matter how old and historic and gritty they were.”

Despite her passing in January 2025, Crawford’s fingerprints were all over Thursday’s event, which was held directly underneath the sign for Union Station’s hotel that bears her name. A photo of the late preservationist sat on an A-frame onstage next to the podium, her blue eyes piercing those in the crowd.

Even with the project’s intrepid leadership, its first few years left Harmon uncertain whether it would ever be completed. A scandal that left the project without $4.5 million could have left it dead in the water if not for Loevlie’s determination to see it through.

“I don’t know how she picked herself up from something that hard, dust herself off, and say ‘I’ll find other people that believe in the program,'” Harmon said. “She made it happen.”

The real turning point, Harmon said, was when the project received multimillion-dollar investments from Dopplemayr and Funis Fund, led by Stefan Eitzinger and Sebi Lüönd, respectively, beginning around 2023. While local investors had been propping up the project, those contributions changed its tenor.

“All of a sudden, that money was coming in at a much bigger scale,” Harmon said. “When that happened, I said that, no matter what, it’s going now.”

Harmon admitted that, while some residents had expressed reservations about whether Idaho Springs would be able to handle the influx of tourist traffic brought about by the cable car, he believes that its mandatory reservation system, which will be implemented in conjunction with its opening, as well as over 200 new parking spaces, will all help keep backlogs down.

Additionally, he said, the project is in an area of town that is traditionally not as heavily used by the local population.

“I taught my daughter to drive on that road because I knew it was so quiet,” Harmon said. “I knew there weren’t going to be any cars on it, so she couldn’t hit anything.”

Standing in front of the crowd at Union Station on Thursday evening, Loevlie acknowledged the relentless resilience it had taken to bring the project to its final point of fruition and thanked those who believed in the idea even when it was at its point of most peril.

“We hope to be this gathering place in the mountains that Union Station is for the heart of Denver,” Loevlie said.

Only a 35-minute drive from downtown Denver, an opening ceremony for the Mighty Argo Cable Car featuring remarks from Gov. Jared Polis will be held on April 24, and a locals-only ride will take place that afternoon free of charge, Harmon said. The cable car will then open to the general public the following day.

The car used in the unveiling will remain open to the public outside Union Station until the end of May, Union Station general manager Ed Blair said.

“It is the biggest thing that has happened to us since the gold rush,” Harmon said.

Those interested in purchasing tickets for the Mighty Argo Cable Car can do so on mightyargo.com.