The Heritage Trail rooms at Mammoth Cave National Park are to be demolished/David and Kay Scott

Changing habits by visitors to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky have convinced park officials they don't need as many lodge rooms inside the park as they have in years past. As a result, the next concessionaire will have 38 fewer rooms to rent out.

The National Park Service last month issued a prospectus for the main concession business at Mammoth Cave National Park. The contract covers lodging, food service, retail, and transportation within the park. It also authorizes, but does not require the concessionaire to offer the rental of camping equipment, bicycles, and paddle craft. Forever Resorts, the park’s current concessionaire, assumed the contract when it absorbed National Park Concessions.

The park concession currently includes 92 guest rooms in a combination of cabins, motel-type buildings, and the main hotel. A major downside to the new contract is the plan to tear down 38 guest rooms in the main hotel. After that, the building will house only four ADA accessible rooms.

"The business model has changed here. We’re located close to an interstate, about 20 minutes away, so you have a lot of hotels outside the park, restaurants, gas stations," Deputy Superintendent Bruce Powell said in explaining the downsizing in lodging. "The facilities inside the park are 50-75 years old. They were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and during Mission 66. At that time, there was a much greater need for lodging in the park."

Occupancy in park lodging has fallen 31 percent during the past decade, the deputy added.

The Woodland Cottages at Mammoth Cave will remain/David and Kay Scott

Another issue for a new concessionaire is the Park Service will be closing most of the main hotel for nine months to work on safety and utility upgrades. This work is expected to begin in September 2015 and be completed in May 2016. During this period the concessionaire will be required to provide food service outside the building, with a possibility of a food cart and/or temporary food offerings adjacent to the Camper Store.

Retail sales will also be temporarily moved out of the main hotel, most likely to the park visitor center and Camper Store.

The Park Service also is planning property improvements to Sunset Terrace Lodge and its 20 guest rooms. This will include roof replacement, window upgrades, replacement of heating and air conditioning, landscaping, and upgrading two rooms to be ADA compliant. This work will be paid for by the Park Service and is expected to take place between late fall 2015 and spring 2016.

The Sunset Terrace rooms are to be renovated under the new concessions contract/David and Kay Scott

Other required changes include consolidating the two gift shops into one and the three food service areas into two.

As an interesting aside, the Park Service is proposing to assist the concessionaire generate additional food and retail business by having buses that transport visitors between the visitor center and cave entrance terminate at the entrance to the hotel on their return trips. Thus, visitors will be more likely to stop and eat or buy T-shirts before arriving at their vehicles to exit the park.

The initial investment for the winning bidder is expected to be approximately $2 million. This includes $347,000 in deferred maintenance, $1.08 million in new or replacement personal property, and $437,000 in working capital. An additional $825,000 will be required in 2017. Gross revenues for the current concessionaire have averaged about $3.8 million annually between 2010 and 2012.

With all the tumult that has occurred in NPS concession contracts during the past year, it will be interesting to observe how the Mammoth Cave contract plays out. It wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see Forever decide not to bid on the new contract. 

Additional reporting by Kurt Repanshek