|
Secretary
Norton Officially Opens Maintenance Facility at Glacier Bay Interior
Secretary Gale Norton today officially opened the new maintenance
support facility at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. "It
is an honor to come to Glacier Bay to celebrate the opening of this
much needed maintenance facility," said Norton. "The new building
is just one example of how we are fulfilling our promise of addressing
backlog maintenance projects in national parks across the country."
The new $3.9 million maintenance facility at Glacier Bay was considered
for nearly 20 years before finally being built over the past year.
The primary contractor was Dawson Construction of Bellingham, Washington,
with sub-contracting work performed by businesses in Gustavus, Juneau
and Sitka. The facility replaced a motley collection of small maintenance
buildings and outdoor storage yards that left park maintenance staff
working in unsatisfactory conditions, frequently in inclement weather.
The new facility provides indoor, dry and heated storage and work
space for maintaining boat engines, vehicles, and the other equipment
needed across the 3.2 million acre national park. Also, for the
first time, the park's maintenance staff will be working in a single
building, providing for more efficient operations and communications.
The maintenance facility is one of several improvements that have
taken place at Glacier Bay in the past several years. New fuel systems,
restrooms, docking facilities and visitor trails have been built
or upgraded. Norton noted that the work at Glacier Bay tracks with
an initiative within the National Park Service to improve park maintenance
and repair or replace substandard facilities, particularly those
used by park visitors. Over the past four years, the Department
and the National Park Service have proposed spending about $3.9
billion to address deferred maintenance in parks. Funds spent on
deferred maintenance are up 60% since FY 2000. President Bush promised
increased funding for parks. That promise is being kept. In FY 2004
alone, $1 billion was provided, up $341 million since FY 2000, a
50% increase. Funds spent on deferred maintenance are up 60% since
FY 2000. The Secretary's three-day trip to Alaska also includes
stops in Juneau, Hoonah and Anchorage. Digital photographs of the
opening ceremony and the text of Secretary Norton's remarks will
be posted on the park's web site (www.nps.gov/glba) after the event.--END--
Privacy & Disclaimer
Author:Jane
Tranel
Last modified on: January 23, 2004
www.nps.gov/akso
|
Related Links
|
