Grand Canyon National Park Seeks Public Comment On Environmental Assessment For Proposed Rehabilitation Of The Ranger Operations Building

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joseph F. Alston today announced the release of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the rehabilitation of the historic Ranger Operations Building. The building, a National Historic Landmark, is located within Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The proposal includes both interior and exterior rehabilitation designed to preserve historic features and elements of the building while improving functionality, safety, and accessibility for users. The National Park Service (NPS) is soliciting comments from the public on the proposal.

The EA considers two alternatives, Alternative A; a no-action alternative and Alternative B; an action alternative. Alternative B, the agency preferred alternative, proposes to rehabilitate the building, bringing it up to current safety and accessibility standards and to improve functionality. This would be achieved through interior and exterior repairs and rehabilitation actions including such things as replacing the roof shingles, replacing deteriorated wood siding and log rafters, creation of accessible exterior walkways, upgrade of the heating, ventilation and cooling system, modification of interior walls to create more office and storage space, removal of walls in some areas to return these spaces to their historic configuration and restoring the lobby to its original configuration. The proposed project is needed to address several management concerns including the fact that the building does not comply with current building code, safety standards, seismic and structural code, and accessibility requirements; exterior rustic lap siding and exposed log elements are severely deteriorated and in need of stabilization to prevent further loss of historic fabric; masonry needs repair; and aged plumbing and mechanical systems are outdated and inefficient.

Copies of the EA can be obtained by writing to the Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023, Attn: Sara White, Compliance Officer, or on-line at www.nps.gov/grca/compliance/. Comments will be accepted for 30 days and should be sent to Sara White at the above address or by email to sara_white@nps.gov by February 26, 2003. For questions or additional information, please contact Debbie Lutch, Project Compliance Officer at 928-774-0095.