[Geysers] Press Release: Contract for Old Faithful Visitor Education Center Awarded

[Lynn Stephens]

Here's a link to today's  (3/12/2008) press release about award of the contract for the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center:  http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/08016.htm.


And here's the trext:

Contract Awarded for Old Faithful Visitor Education Center
	
Date: March 12, 2008
Contact: Al Nash or Stacy Vallie, 307-344-2015
Contact: Christine Weinheimer, 406-586-6303

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

                 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2008    08-016
Al Nash or Stacy Vallie (307) 344-2015

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE

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Contract Awarded For Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Artist's rendering of completed facility

Groundbreaking for a new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center is set for May 2008.

The construction contract has been awarded to Swank Enterprises, a general contractor with offices in Kalispell and Valier, Montana.

The two-story, 26,000 square foot structure will be built on the site of the small, outdated visitor center which was demolished last summer. A temporary visitor center is in place to serve visitors while construction is underway. The new facility is expected to open to the public by the fall of 2010.

$15 million of the $27 million dollar cost of design and construction was provided by the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Major donations to the Yellowstone Park Foundation for the new building were made by ConocoPhillips, Unilever, the Coca-Cola Foundation, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., the National Science Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation.

The new visitor education center will serve 2.6 million on-site visitors every year. It will feature new exhibits and host new programs to help visitors understand and appreciate geysers, hot springs, and other hydrothermal features in Yellowstone. The building will also contain an auditorium, research library, multi-purpose classroom, and educational bookstore.

The building has been designed to be compatible with the rustic architectural style of the Old Faithful Historic District.  The National Park Service intends to seek certification of the facility as a high-performance, environmentally friendly “green” building. It has also been designed to set new standards for accessibility and for the interpretation of complex scientific information to the public.

The Yellowstone Park Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1996, based in Bozeman, Montana. The Foundation’s mission is to work in cooperation with the National Park Service to fund projects that protect, preserve, and enhance the natural and cultural resources and the visitor experience of Yellowstone National Park. More information is available online at www.ypf.org.

CTA Architects Engineers of Billings, Montana, is the project architect. They recently teamed up with Swank Enterprises on Yellowstone’s Canyon Visitor Education Center which was opened to the public in August 2006.

Lynn Stephens
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