HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The National Park Service bypassed an open bidding process when it awarded a $4 million construction contract to a Montana company to begin rebuilding a Glacier National Park backcountry chalet that burned in a wildfire last year, officials said Tuesday.
Park service officials justified skipping an open competition for the Sperry Chalet project by saying there was "unusual and compelling urgency" to begin work in July to permanently stabilize the burned chalet's stone walls by autumn.