GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS An Administrative History

CHAPTER VIII: DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARK (continued)

Information and Operational Headquarters

In 1987 the information center and operational headquarters for Guadalupe Mountains National Park still occupied temporary facilities (see Figure 29). In 1976, preliminary planning for the combined visitor center and operational headquarters was complete, and, during that year Congress considered a request for $3,089,000 to complete planning and construction of the facility. In the House Appropriations Subcommittee meeting in 1976, committee members recognized the need for a visitor center and personnel housing at Guadalupe, but they also expressed strong opinions against the tramway concept in the Master Plan for the park. Ultimately, however, circumstances beyond the control of park managers caused the Appropriations Subcommittee members to delete funding for the visitor center for Guadalupe Mountains along with funding for eleven other visitor centers Servicewide. The deletions took place after controversy erupted concerning high cost overruns on the National Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. [47]

During 1977 the Department of the Interior again requested $3,089,000 for the visitor center at Guadalupe Mountains. Again, Congress deferred funding. A supplemental appropriations bill requesting only planning funds also was deferred. In the latter part of 1977 planners reduced the size of the proposed facility from 9,100 square feet to 8,600 square feet. In 1978 Congress deferred a request for $2,580,000, the revised cost estimate for the building. Subsequently, planners made more changes in the design of the visitor center and reduced the cost estimates by another $700,000. Although in 1979 the Southwest Region listed construction of the visitor center for Guadalupe Mountains as its first priority, the Department of the Interior requested no funds for the construction of the visitor center in its appropriation for 1980. The approved appropriation did, however, include $298,000 for planning and design work for the facility. [48]

The construction design completed by the Denver Service Center in March 1981 contained some surprises. The new estimated cost for construction was $4,658,000, some two million dollars more than preliminary estimates. Even more surprising to the personnel at the park, however, was the design of the building. They thought the high-profile, triangular, sleekly modern building the architects had created was inappropriate for the wilderness character of the park. By June, Jay Bright, Assistant Manager of the planning team at the Denver Service Center, notified the Regional Director that he would hold a "design-in" with staff members from the park, Harpers Ferry Center, and the regional office in order to revise the plans at minimal cost. [49]

In the Park Service, the decision to redesign any facility usually added considerable time to the length of the project and often delayed its completion for years. That was the choice park managers made in 1981 when they rejected the costly triangular design for the visitor center. Between the time of the "design-in" in December 1981 and October 1985, the staff of the park reviewed five designs. In January 1986 the Regional Director approved the design concept that had been accepted by all other reviewers: a building of 7,613 square feet, constructed of stone and wood in a style characteristic of West Texas architecture, with parking for 50 cars, 10 recreational vehicles, and 3 buses. The estimated cost for the building and visitor parking was $2,572,000. [50]

Although by mid-1987 plans for the visitor center and operations headquarters had been revised again, increasing the size of the building by approximately 3,000 square feet, in December 1987 Congress appropriated $3,650,000 for construction of the building. Park managers scheduled the ground breaking for the new facility for May 21, 1988 (see Figure 30). [51]

During an interview in 1987, John Cook, Regional Director of the Southwest Region, reflected on the problems encountered in designing and funding the facility for Guadalupe Mountains. He admitted the design had been a major problem since 1981, but attributed the funding problems to timing, politics, and personalities. Congressman Richard White had been unsuccessful in his attempts to convince the appropriations subcommittee of the park's need for a visitor facility. However, the current Congressman for the district, Ronald Coleman, served on the appropriations subcommittee and apparently had the ear of Chairman Sidney Yates, who had been chairman since the first request for funding for the visitor center. In 1986, working in what Cook called a "forthright way," Coleman succeeded in obtaining the $250,000 needed to complete construction drawings for the visitor center. Early in 1987 Coleman correctly predicted that construction funding would be approved for 1988 if the construction drawings were ready by October 1987. Area Manager Ralph Harris acknowledged the advantages of Coleman's advocacy for the park, but recalled that Coleman did not come into office with a strong personal interest in the park, such as White had. Superintendent Rick Smith and Harris waged an active campaign to cultivate Coleman's interest in the park by keeping him posted on activities and developments taking place there. [52]

While hopes and plans for permanent facilities materialized and disappeared with discouraging regularity during the park's first fifteen years, the staff patiently developed their temporary facilities to maximize efficiency and create an acceptable public image. In 1972, management moved one of the houses from the former FAA station at Salt Flat to a location on the road to the Frijole Spring ranch house, just off Highway 62/180 near Pine Springs. The house served as both information center and operational headquarters for the park until 1978, when a used trailer, installed next to the house, became the office of the area manager. A second trailer, installed near the Frijole ranch house, was the headquarters for the building and utilities foreman until 1982, when maintenance facilities were completed. Although these additions took some of the pressure of administrative personnel off the little house, it still was undesirable as a contact station for a national park. [53]

In July 1979, a new double-wide trailer, installed across the road from the headquarters, became the visitor contact station, information center, and reference library for the park. In the new facility, the interpretive staff for the park had room to present an audio-visual program to a small audience and provide a few exhibits for visitors. The new facility also allowed for a sales area for interpretive literature, as well as drinking water, restrooms, and a "rest space," out of the weather. [54]

Once Harris realized that a permanent operational headquarters for the park was years away, he set about making the temporary facility as efficient as possible. In 1983 another movable house from Salt Flat was joined to the existing headquarters building, replacing two trailers. Harris supervised the remodelling of the two buildings, creating offices for the area manager, the chief ranger, and the chief of interpretation and visitor services, as well as space for clerical staff, a workroom, kitchen, and restroom. At the same time, adaptive restoration at the Frijole ranch house made work and office space available there for the district ranger and resource manager. Another house, moved from Salt Flat in 1983, was relocated in the maintenance area to provide much-needed curatorial and storage space for the park's museum collection. [55]

Donald Dayton, William Dunmire, and Ralph Harris shared the headaches of design, contracting, and construction during the period of active development at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which stretched from 1979 through late 1982. The shifting national economic situation made funding for all park projects more difficult to obtain. Only facilities deemed absolutely necessary or unquestionable, such as housing for employees, utilities, small contact stations, and maintenance facilities were funded. After funding was obtained, prompt construction of the facilities was hindered by the 8(a) contracting process. Most of the construction at Guadalupe Mountains took place at a time when little other construction was going on in the Southwest Region. The bulk of the region's 8(a) contracting obligations fell to Guadalupe Mountains, thereby complicating the normal contracting process. [56] While inexperienced or under qualified contractors contributed to construction delays, other delays resulted from failures or inadequacies in designs. Then, intra-agency disagreements about the design of the visitor center and operations headquarters added at least five years to development of the park's most visible facility. In spite of the delays, however, actual construction of most of the planned facilities took place in a relatively short five-year time period, from 1977 to late 1982. With construction of the visitor center and operations headquarters underway in 1988, the only development projects remaining to be completed were the boundary fence, Phase IV of the trail system, an additional residence at Dog Canyon, a community center for the Pine Springs residential area, and a garage for the maintenance area.

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