Chalet work a little bit ahead of schedule, Park Service says

Crews continue to work on rebuilding Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park and are about one-third of the way completed with Phase II work, about a month into the second year of reconstruction.

Work is ahead of schedule by a few days, Park spokeswoman Lauren Alley said.

Crews were working on the roofing on Saturday and they’ve done a lot of interior work as well.

Folks who have had a peek inside say the chalet looks just like the old chalet.

The building is completely surrounded by scaffolding and the area around it is closed to the public.

The mountain goats, however, had been taking to scaffolding, though a couple of grizzly bears have been prowling around in the past few days, and the goats recently took to higher and safer terrain, folks who were at the chalet said.

The chalet was gutted by the Sprague Creek Fire in 2017. All that remained was the stone shell of the building, which is 105 years old. Crews from Dick Anderson Construction completed Phase I of the work last summer, getting a new temporary roof and super structure built before the snow fell.

Anderson received the contract to finish Phase Ii as well. Crews live in nearby wall tents and they’re fed at the dining hall, which survived the Sprague Fire intact.

The Glacier National Park Conservancy is providing funding to pay for the meals. The dining hall is also open to the public.

The work is expected to be completed by this fall, with the chalet reopening in 2020.