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Glacier Park Opens Bidding For Phase 2 Of Sperry Chalet Rebuild

Scaffolding at the scorched Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park, Oct. 2017.
Glacier National Park Conservancy
Scaffolding at the scorched Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park will host an open house and industry night Feb. 13 for contractors interested in rebuilding the Sperry Chalet dormitory. Glacier had planned to host the event in January but had to postpone due to the partial federal government shutdown.

The chalet’s dormitory was badly burned in the Sprague Fire in 2017.

The industry night, aimed at construction contractors interested in bidding on Phase 2 of the Sperry rebuild project, runs from 5 to 5:30 pm February 13 at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell. A public open house hosted by the Glacier National Park Conservancy will follow from 6 to 8 pm.

Doug Mitchell, executive director of the conservancy, says the group will share the latest footage and images from monitoring flights of what he calls a significant moment in park history.

"Whenever we look at the pictures of the construction or the chalet in the early days, you say to yourself, 'Man, that must have been cool to be part of that.' Well, that's what's happening today. A hundred years from now somebody's going to look back and say, 'Man, that would have been cool to be a part of that.' And this is about helping people to be part of that, even if it's just sitting around with a cup of coffee and talking about the time you were at Sperry, and what's going on."

Phase 2 includes finishing touches to the roof, flooring, framing and remaining exterior work according to designs by Anderson Hallas Architects based in Golden, Colorado.

Dick Anderson Construction out of Great Falls won the $4 million contract for Phase 1 of the project, which focused on shoring up the dormitory’s original stone walls and foundations with interior seismic bracing and building a new roof. The company completed Phase 1 last October.

The National Park Service expects to award the construction contract for Phase 2 of the Sperry project later this spring. Construction is expected to begin early summer and end this fall.

Mitchell says the shutdown did not significantly impact the project’s timeline.
 

Nicky is MTPR's Flathead-area reporter.
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