Deteriorating concession employee housing at Glacier Bay National Park is scheduled to be replaced with new dorms/NPS file

New concession worker housing is to be built at Glacier Bay National Park, where the project would include demolishing deteriorating buildings and freeing up for public use lodge rooms that have been used to house concession workers.

The new housing is needed to "address overdue life and safety issues with the existing dorms, as well as boost the lodge’s economic viability by freeing up cabins for guest use," a park release said. The dorm project was an identified need in the park’s 2019 Frontcountry Management Plan. It is to be funded by the Legacy Restoration Fund established by the Great American Outdoors Act.

Though the park’s 2019 plan did include the concept of concessioner housing upgrades or replacement, it did not adequately address the significant advantages of shifting development away from the park road, necessitating this tiered Environmental Assessment, the park release said.

The preferred alternative proposed in this EA will also help to move day-to-day lodge operational activities such as laundry, waste management, and vehicle staging away from areas frequented by visitors, such as around the lodge, along the park road, and on the Forest Trail, a popular hiking trail that loops through the spruce and hemlock forest near the lodge. This alternative will also allow lodge operations to continue during the construction period, supporting economic recovery for the concessioner and the community following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lodge facilities are owned by the NPS and historically have been operated for visitors during the summer months by a private business partner under a concessions contract. As part of the lodge contract, the concessioner also operates a boat that provides daily trips into the bay for visitors to see the park’s glaciers, wildlife, and scenery. This dayboat activity is an economic anchor for the businesses involved in independent tourism in the gateway community of Gustavus, Alaska, and the daily Alaska Airlines jet service between Gustavus and Juneau.

An award-winning design, the lodge buildings and landscape are historically significant, as they were built as part of Mission 66, a nationwide program that addressed infrastructure needs in national parks in the ten years leading up to the 50th anniversary of the agency in 1966.

Public comment on the proposal is being taken through December 21. Comments are being be accepted in the following ways:

• Use the “Comment Now” button at this site;

• Email: e-mail us

• Mail: Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 140, Gustavus, AK 99826; all mailed comments must be postmarked by December 21, 2021.