In Many Glacier, a spiral staircase returns

The Many Glacier Hotel will be close to its old glory this summer and one of the centerpieces of the effort was built right here in the Flathead Valley.

Northwest Cabinet Works of Kalispell is building the double-helix staircase for the grand old lodge, a feature that was added in the plans to restore the hotel in Glacier National Park back to its historic look.

The original double helix staircase, which went from the lake level of the hotel to the lobby, was torn out in the mid-’50s to make way for a gift shop.

But over the years the Park Service, and general contractor Swank Construction, have taken pains to revamp the 102-year-old Hotel. Strung together, the hotel has seen $42 million in work over the past 15 years, including straightening the building, remodeling the rooms and restoring the dining room to historic standards.

The staircase work is part of the latest $13.5 million contract to remodel the lobby and the south annex of the building. Swank subcontracted the staircase to Northwest Cabinet Works. The two companies have had a longstanding relationship, noted Cabinet Works owners and partners, Tony Dawson and John Hale.

Some of the first work they did in Glacier was fine woodworking for the Lake McDonald Lodge back in the 1980s, the two noted in a recent interview.

They had decidedly humble beginnings. Dawson and Hale both worked at a cabinet shop west of Kalispell. They tried to buy into the business, but the owner wanted them to buy him out. They didn’t have that kind of cash, so they borrowed $3,000 from a family member to buy some tools and started their own shop. They did some work for car dealer Jim Dowen at one point. He noticed they delivered their cabinets in a car and a small SUV — they didn’t even own a truck. So Dowen traded them some more work for an old pickup truck and they were in business, the two explained.

They also have ties to the Park. Dawson’s wife, Lisa, grew up in Glacier. Her father, Rod Frye was a ranger and her brother, Steve Frye, went on to be the chief ranger in the Park.

Hale also has ties to the Park. His wife, Deanna grew up on a ranch east of the Park and the couple spent their wedding night at the Many Glacier Hotel.

The business grew and today their expansive shop has precision computer numerical controlled saws in addition to the usual tools of the woodworking trade.

But the backbone of the double helix staircase is steel — each stringer is 1,100 pounds, meticulously welded together by Dawson’s 83-year-old father, Bill. He was an ironworker at the Anaconda Aluminum Co. and also worked on the Libby Dam. He does all of the welding and metal fabrication for the cabinet shop, but the staircase was a particular challenge.

Bill worked closely with Zane Smith, a local woodworker who specializes in spiral staircases.

It took a month for the pair to take the raw steel from Chicago and form it into one staircase. The second set took about 10 days — they got the hang of it the second time around.

The work is precise — the risers are within an eighth of an inch of one another, Dawson and Hale said.

But the public will never see the steel. It will be concealed under Douglas Fir woodwork, the lumber sourced locally from RBM Lumber of Columbia Falls.

While the Park Service provided some plans for the project, the company gained greater insight from the hotel itself. When Swank took down the gift shop and peeled away the carpet, it revealed the pattern on the floor of the old staircase.

The company was able to take careful measurements and replicate the new staircase almost exactly. There are some modifications — the original staircase had a hand rail that was wider than what is allowed by code today and the pickets have been modified to meet code as well, Dawson and Hale explained.

In about a month, the stairs will be taken apart and shipped over the divide to the hotel — the road into Many Glacier is expected to be plowed in early April.

Crews will then start the careful process of putting it all back together again.

All told, the staircase project cost about $375,000, but is partially funded through a grant from the Glacier National Park Conservancy, through the Laurence H. Dorcy Foundation. The late Dorcy was an eccentric multi-millionaire from Hawaii and great-great grandson of James Jerome Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railway. The staircase project was part of the Park Service’s Centennial Challenge program, which matched private funding with Park Service dollars.

The total project is expected to be completed by this summer.