Park's new Visitor Center gets some help

Fifteen years ago, Glacier National Park drafted a general management plan, a guiding document that called for a visitor center on the west side at the T-intersection of the Camas and Going-to-the-Sun roads.

Last week, with a host of help from the private sector, that vision became a reality as local businesses, contractors and craftsmen stepped up to the plate to transform a largely vacant space in the Park’s Transit Center to a Visitor Center. The Transit Center was built in 2007 but never staffed to help visitors with questions. Now that’s changed.

Crews worked for the past three weeks, starting at 5 a.m. each day, to get the center completed by May 17.

Initial discussions for the project began about a year ago, but work in earnest only took place over the last month or two, according to Glacier National Park Conservancy CEO Mark Priess.

Mo Stein, principal and senior vice president for HKS Architects and vice-chair of the Conservancy, got the ball rolling on the project. Working closely with the National Park Service, HKS completed the design work for the center, which has an estimated price tag of $150,000 to $200,000 in materials and in-kind labor and services.

Local contractor Swank Enterprises offered help, as did Plum Creek and Kalispell Regional Medical Center. KRMC has a crew of carpenters who work in the hospital.

“We talk about leveraging public and private resources (to serve Glacier),” Priess said. “That’s what this looks like.”

Swank played a big role, Priess said.

“We could only have realized this project because of Dewey Swank and Swank Enterprises’ leadership,” Priess said.

Combined, these companies donated nearly all the labor and materials for the project. KRMC carpenters and Swank crews worked side by side. HKS drew up the designs, and Plum Creek donated most of the specialty wood for the project, including material for all the cabinets and the visitor information desk.

KRMC garnered additional donations from local businesses Valley Glass, Sherwin Williams, Western Building Center, and Dupont Corian to cover and stain the desks and cabinets in the center.

The new location will also provide more parking. Crews finished up work on a parking lot expansion last week. The center will also continue to serve as a Transit Center and a stopping point for people using Glacier Park’s free shuttle system.

The Park hasn’t made a decision on what to do with the old Visitor Center — a “Mission 66” building built in the 1960s. The old center is closed, but the bathrooms will remain open.