Crater Lake Lodge was built in 1915 to provide overnight accommodation for visitors to Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon, USA. The lodge is located on the southwestern edge of the Crater Lake Crater overlooking the 1,000 foot (300 m) lake below. The cottage is owned by the National Park Service, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Video Crater Lake Lodge
Local history
Crater Lake lies within a caldera made 7,700 years ago when 12,000 feet (3,700 m) - High Mount of Mazama collapsed following a large volcanic eruption. During the next millennium, the caldera is filled with rainwater that forms the lake today. The Klamath Indians worship Crater Lake because of its blue waters. In 1853, three gold miners found the lake. They named it Deep Blue Lake, but since the lake was very high in the Cascade Range, the discovery was soon forgotten.
In 1886, Captain Clarence Dutton led a US Geological Survey party to Crater Lake. The Dutton team brought a half-tonne survey boat, Cleetwood, up a steep mountain slope and lowered it 2,000 feet (610 m) into the lake. From Cleetwood , Dutton uses a piano wire to measure the depth of the lake at 168 different points. The survey team determined the lake was 1,996 feet (608 m) deep. This is surprisingly close to the modern sonar-based readings made in 1959 that set the deepest point of the lake at 1,932 feet (589 m).
William Gladstone Steel accompanied Dutton's party in 1886. He named many lake landmarks including Wizard Island, Llao Rock, and Skell Head, and participated in lake surveys providing scientific evidence about the uniqueness of the lake. After he returned, Steel began to suggest that Crater Lake was designated a national park. On May 22, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill to make Crater Lake the sixth national park of the United States. The idea of ​​building a guest cottage on Lake Crater was first appointed by Steel as soon as the park was established.
Maps Crater Lake Lodge
Construction
In 1909, Steel finally convinced a Portland developer, Alfred Parkhurst, to build a cottage on the upper edge of Crater Lake. The average snowfall in Lake Crater is 533 inches (13.5 m). As a result, cottage structures are required to carry very heavy snow loads of up to eight months each year. Whether Parkhurst or project architect R. L. Hockenberry & amp; The company has experience building structures in demanding environments such as the site of the Crater Lake. In addition, building materials must be transported by truck to a location over very poor garden paths, and the construction season is limited to three summer months. These factors are combined to slow down construction and increase project costs. To compensate, Parkhurst maintains its structure very simply. For example, the outer part is covered with tar paper and the inner wall is finished with a thin wallboard like a cardboard board called a "beaver board." The cottage does not have a private bathroom and the electricity comes only from a small generator.
Initial development
When Crater Lake Lodge opened in 1915, it attracted many visitors even though there were no facilities. The incredible view of Crater Lake and the surrounding Cascade Mountain peaks continue to flow in visitors coming to the lodge.
In 1922, a two-year facility improvement project began. The project doubled the number of guest rooms, and added a private bathroom in the new wing of the cottage. However, the lack of money left many new rooms unfinished. The number of visitors to the park decreased during the Great Depression, and the cottage suffered financially from the decrease of visits. As a result, very little is spent on maintenance of the facility. However, the guest rooms on the second and third floors were completed in the mid 1930s.
Over the years, cars have destroyed most of the vegetation around the inn. During the 1930s, the Civil Conservation Corps built Rim Village adjacent to the cottage. Their work includes landscaping around the inn, something that private private cottages can not do. The new landscape includes hundreds of native trees and shrubs that help to integrate the structure of the cottage into the surrounding environment. In addition, the National Park Service paved the parking area of ​​the lodge and adjacent walkways. This significantly reduces the dust and erosion problems surrounding the building.
During World War II, Lake Crater National Park and Crater Lake Lodge were closed to the public. After the war, park visits increased dramatically and the cottage benefited from increased tourism. The National Park Service continues to encourage lodge operators to upgrade facilities, but little is done to maintain structures beyond basic utility maintenance and necessary fire safety measures. Finally, the cord should be stretched between the north and south walls so as not to bend.
Ownership of National Park Service
In 1967, the National Park Service acquired Crater Lake Lodge. The lodge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. However, the building continues to deteriorate due to lack of funds. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service feels restoring the old building is too expensive so it is scheduled to be destroyed. The decision was later canceled due to public opposition. In 1988, the National Park Service approved plans to rebuild the cottage as part of a comprehensive Rim Village rebuilding program.
In the spring of 1989, just before the cottage opened for the summer, structural engineers suggested the National Park Service that the Great Hall was unsafe. It was so unstable they were afraid of falling from their own weight, dropping the rest of the cottage with it. This forced the National Park Service to close pending renovations. After two years of planning, construction began in 1991. Some of the original material was rescued for reuse, but most of the original buildings have deteriorated to the point it can not be stored or reused. However, the Great Hall was carefully dismantled. The rest of the building is gutted and steel support structures, modern utilities and fire suppression systems are installed, and guest rooms are upgraded to modern hotel standards. Renovations were completed in the fall of 1994 at a cost of $ 15 million. On May 20, 1995, Crater Lake Lodge reopened to the public. It has been operated by Xanterra Parks and Resorts (formerly Amfac Resorts) since 2002. Aramark is scheduled to take over in 2018.
Today, visitors to Crater Lake Lodge enjoy modern accommodation in a rural setting that reminiscent of a genuine 1920s cottage. The lodge has 71 rooms. Each room provides modern comfort and privacy. The Great Hall has been completely restored. The dining room overlooks the lake and serves north-western cuisine. The exhibition hall near the lobby provides information on the history of the lodge, Lake Crater, and the park. The cottage is open from late May to mid October.
References
External links
- Crater Lake Lodge
- Historical Buildings of America (HABS) No. OR-48, "Crater Lake Lodge, Off Route 62, Klamath Falls, Klamath County, OR"
- Crater Lake National Park
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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