Scientists at the National Geodetic Survey used updated information on gravity, which distorts surveying tools' measurements, to revise their 1929 approximations of sea level. The elevation changes range from 7 feet on large mountains to a few feet in the city of Denver. "The new one is 3 feet difference, but who cares?" asks geologist Jack Reed.
Certainly not officials at Coors Field, home of baseball's Colorado Rockies. Ray Baker, head of the Denver Metropolitan Baseball Stadium District, jokes, "We should demolish the current facility and rebuild it to well within 3 feet." In fact, though, no alterations are planned to the stadium's row of mile-high seats, which are painted purple.
A change at the state Capitol, where the 15th step serves as the mile-high mark, is more realistic. Dan Hopkins, spokesperson for Colorado Governor Bill Owens, says that there are already two mile markers, one from the time of the building's construction and the other from an updated measurement in the late 1960s. "If it's recomputed again, it wouldn't be a big problem to put another marker," says Hopkins.
