News Release

Public Meeting Scheduled for Scotty’s Castle Exhibit Plans

NPS photo

News Release Date: January 19, 2018

Contact: Patrick Taylor, 760-786-3279

Public Meeting Scheduled for Scotty’s Castle Exhibit Plans

DEATH VALLEY, CA – Death Valley National Park is seeking public input into its design plans for exhibits at the Scotty’s Castle Visitor Center. The public is invited to provide comments on exhibit proposals at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center at 2:00pm on Wednesday January 31^st. National Park Service personnel and contractors from The Design Minds will present several conceptual plans for the visitor center exhibits.

Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds states, “This is a unique opportunity to design exhibits for a truly exceptional site. Scotty’s Castle doesn’t only tell the story of Death Valley Scotty, but the story of the West. Gold mines, shootouts, water rights, the displacement of traditional people are some of the ideas we hope to include within the interpretive exhibits. We are very eager to hear public comments on the current proposals. Additionally, our partner the Death Valley Natural History Association, has promised a free poster to anyone who comes and comments at the meeting.”

Scotty’s Castle was extensively damaged by a flash flood on October 18, 2015. Over three inches of rain fell in five hours causing catastrophic flooding that damaged or destroyed historic buildings and other features, roads, walkways, and utilities in the historic district. The National Park Service is working with multiple contractors in repairing the damage and anticipates reopening to the public in early 2020.

-www.nps.gov/deva-

Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural and cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. About two-thirds of the park was originally designated as Death Valley National Monument in 1933. Today the park is enjoyed by about 1,300,000 people per year. The park is 3,400,000 acres – nearly as large as the state of Connecticut. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva.