Park wants $3.2 mil upgrade to St. Mary
Hungry Horse News
Glacier National Park will look to overhaul the St. Mary Visitor Center soon to house the east side transit center.
The plan calls for expanding the parking lot at the center about 1.5 acres, constructing a lane between the two current parking lots, upgrading the bathrooms and creating a dance arbor for Native American dance performances. The cost of the project will run about $3.2 million.
The plan is also to remodel the interior and exterior of the building as well as add office space for the transit center.
On the Park's west side an entirely new transit center is being built.
The east side sees less visitor and vehicle traffic, however. Last year the east entrance saw about 276,000 visitors while the west entrance saw 1.1 million.
The Park was going to consider floodplain issues from nearby Divide Creek in this plan, but there wasn't enough funding available.
So it has now offered up a scaled-back plan for the center.
The center would be a stopping point and parking area for folks who want to take a free shuttle ride on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. That shuttle service will run from either direction of Logan Pass and is designed to ease traffic on the highway while it undergoes major reconstruction in the next five years.
The existing St. Mary Visitor Center and parking lots are not currently configured to function as a park transit terminal and visitor center, the Park notes. At present, there are no transit bus turnaround areas, no bus pick-up/drop-off points, no transit information kiosks, and there is an inadequate number of parking spaces to accommodate the anticipated park transit bus riders.
The building hasn't been updated since it was constructed in the 1960s.
The environmental assessment is available through the park's planning Web site: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/parkHome.cfm?parkId=61 and comments can be made directly through this site. Or write to: Superintendent, Glacier National Park, Attn: St. Mary EA, West Glacier, Montana 59936.