EBS STAFF
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – This summer,
the National Park Service completed an extensive $30 million renovation of the
historic Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The 1938 building was originally designed
by architect Robert Reamer and this most recent update preserved the historic
look and feel of what is one of only a few “art moderne” hotels in the
National Park System.
An architectural style popularized in the
1930s and ‘40s, art moderne is characterized by streamlined, horizontal
structures with flat roofs and curved walls or rounded corners.
On Aug. 30, Yellowstone National Park and
Xanterra Travel Collection in Yellowstone hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and
tours to celebrate the renovation that added new private bathrooms to guest
rooms, new windows and new conference rooms, as well as electrical upgrades,
structural and seismic stabilization, and Americans with Disabilities Act
access.
According to an NPS statement, “These significant improvements prepare the hotel for its next phase of life, with an emphasis toward sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint.” Additionally, restoration specialists carefully rehabilitated Reamer’s famous wooden map in the Map Room.
Funded by NPS, the four-year renovation was one of Yellowstone’s ongoing efforts to reduce deferred maintenance and improve conditions of important historic resources.
