Last updated: August 3, 2023
Article
Operational Buildings at Three Idaho Parks to be Rehabilitated through GAOA Funding to Improve Employee Safety and Operations
NPS Photo
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve features lava flows 15,000 to 2,000 years old and allows visitors to explore lava beds along the 53-mile Great Rift of Idaho along with tree molds, lava tube caves, and spatter cones.
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument offers a glimpse into the ancient Pliocene past, when this region was home to a variety of fascinating, now-extinct creatures. The scientific study of Pliocene fossils is the key to Hagerman.
Minidoka National Historic Site provides opportunities for public education and interpretation of the exclusion, forced removal, and unjust incarceration of over 13,000 Japanese Americans in the Idaho desert during World War II. Visitors to the park take tours and experience interpretive exhibits that identify the historic structures and landscape, describe life in Minidoka and explain how the war relocation center operated.
Project at a Glance: This $9.932 million project corrects serious facility deficiencies at three Idaho units of the National Park Service to improve park operations. At Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, funding will rehabilitate the park’s historic Mission 66 maintenance building and construct a new building to house snow removal equipment with a vehicle wash bay. At Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, it will install a fire suppression system in the combined Maintenance Shop-Paleontology Laboratory building. At Minidoka National Historic Site, this project will demolish a non-historic and non-contributing structure and construct a purpose-built maintenance and resource management facility.
What are the Benefits:
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Craters of the Moon’s will rehabilitate historic Mission 66 maintenance building to remedy safety risks associated with failing infrastructure and inadequate workspaces. It will provide protected storage for the park’s snow removal equipment and a summer-use vehicle wash bay. This project will improve staff safety and comfort, prolong equipment life, reduce operating costs, and help the park adapt to the growing demands of increased visitation on park programs.
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument will install a fire suppression system in the paleontology laboratory and maintenance facility to improve park staff life safety and protect irreplaceable paleontological artifacts and the building investment. The use of air tools for fossil preparation in the laboratory results in fire hazards related to unstable organic compounds and fine dust. This project will help protect one-of-a-kind fossil specimens could be irreparably damaged or lost.
Minidoka National Historic Site
Minidoka National Historic Site will adapt and reuse a non-contributing Minidoka building as a safe, code-compliant maintenance and resource management facility to support park operations. This will rehabilitate workspaces struggling with leaks, rodents, temperature extremes and lack of space for equipment. These improvements will support the park workforce, reduce staff turnover, and enable crews to work more effectively by creating project collaboration and equipment sharing between divisions.
Project Purpose and Goals
- Correct $7.679 million of deferred maintenance and repairs to providing long-term operational benefits for three Idaho Units of the NPS
- Repair and insulate the building envelope
- Add a code compliant fire suppression system to the boneyard equipment and dry storage building
- Reconfigure the floorplan to create an ABAAS-compliant restroom and improved staff workspaces
- Construct a new building nearby to house snow removal equipment and a vehicle wash bay
- Restore historic windows and doors
- Install energy-efficient lighting and heat pump HVAC system
- Correct several critical code deficiencies and safety issues including accessibility, electrical code compliance, and structural fire safety
- Connect and upgrade the existing smoke detection and fire alarm system
- Expand the fire suppression system including a new, smaller water storage tank, waterlines, pump house with fire pump, controls, and associated system components
- Install a fire suppression system that will cause almost no water damage upon activation
- Install building piping, sprinkler heads and fire truck connections
- Build a new resource management facility with a carpentry shop, equipment repair bays, offices, and workspaces for park staff
- Strengthen the structure to meet seismic code
- Replace the roof and siding
- Add insulation to increase thermal efficiency
- Equip with new fire suppression and woodworking dust control systems
- Replace all windows and doors and add equipment bay doors
- Replace the HVAC system, lighting, telecommunications, electrical service and wiring, water, and wastewater lines
- Revise building access and interior to be ABAAS-compliant
- Drill a new well with an above ground well head or well house to provide potable water and correct the existing confined space vault hazzard
- Install a new code-compliant septic system
- A reduction in previously necessary travel between Minidoka and Hagerman Fossil Beds achieves 10% annual savings in Minidoka’s annual operational budget.
NPS Photo