Park finalizes concession plan

Hungry Horse News

A few more rooms for guests, boat service to Apgar and even guided diving in some lakes. That's all part of the Glacier National Park's new commercial services plan.

Park Superintendent Mick Holm signed off the plan last week, making it a formal document.

Now the park has to implement the plan-which includes a host of projects that will easily cost millions of dollars.

Here's a look at just some of the changes:

€ At Lake McDonald, the plan calls for replacing the coffee shop with a new restaurant and replacing the Stewart Motel and annex with a new motel. Several employee dormitories would be removed, others would be converted to guest accommodations.

New employee housing would be built. Also, the park wants to modify the main entrance road to the lodge and reconfigure parking on the boulevard.

€ At Rising Sun, the park would construct 10 two-unit cabins, construct some new employee dormitories, convert some old employee dormitories to guest lodging, and convert the lower motel to employee housing while converting the main dormitory to guest lodging.

€ At Many Glacier, there's a similar theme, including restoring the historic stairwell in the Many Glacier Hotel, removing most employee housing from the hotel, converting the lower dorms to guest housing and constructing a new dorm near the upper dormitory and include employee recreational facilities.

€ At Granite Park, the chalet would remain a hiker shelter, but the park would like to provide a potable water supply and would replace the toilets there as well. That contradicts a 1993 study that said the park would make Granite a full service facility. But in this analysis, the park notes it has already spent more than $4.5 million on Sperry Chalet upgrades. Keeping Granite a hiking shelter is more cost feasible as well as more environmentally friendly.

€ At Two Medicine, the park wants to remove the parking lot from the lake viewshed and it wants to restore the general store as and replace the toilets.

In total, the plan increases the number of guest rooms in the park from 512 to 540.

Funding is always an issue with these projects. Some funds could be garnered with concessionaire contracts which are due for renewal in the coming year or two. Other funds could come from the park's general capital budget, or fee demonstration funds, noted Jan Knox, of the park's concessions office.

There's also the line item in the federal budget. Much of the Many Glacier Hotel funding, which has gone through extensive remodeling in the past few years, was specifically earmarked by Congress.

The services plan also adds new services. For example, the park has plans to make boat tours available at Apgar and there's a separate plan to allow guided underwater diving in some lakes. Knox said that will require a new contract.

Rejected in the plan were guided motorcycle tours, guided fishing excursions, and guided off-trail trips.

Regular guided trail hikes are included, with certain limits. The plan also allows for guided bike tours, and a private vehicle shuttling service from trailhead to trailhead.

The plan also extends dates for stays in some of the motels, but Knox noted the weather, park staffing and infrastructure dictates when a facility closes more than set dates.

Also, there is no guided hiking in the North Fork management area.