Relocate West Side Facilities

View from near new West Side VC

NPS Photo

News Release Date: June 16, 2010

Pinnacles National Monument

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act News Release

Pinnacles National Monument will Relocate and Replace Flood-Prone West Side Facilities

Paicines, CA – The National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, has awarded an $8.5 million contract under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) to Anderson Burton Construction, Inc, a general contracting company based in Arroyo Grande, CA. 

The company will restore the sensitive riparian corridor by removing the maintenance area, housing, and Ranger Station from the Chaparral area while designing and constructing a new Visitor Center, housing, and maintenance area closer to the park’s west boundary to provide increased visitor services and to help visitors learn about the park and its resources. The company will perform site preparation and grading; make improvements to existing park roads, paved vehicular service roads and parking, and utilities infrastructures (storm water, domestic water, sewer, power and telephone/network conduit). The contractor will also design and build a visitor contact station, integrating active and passive solar technologies; an entry station; maintenance/fire/EMS building; and maintenance yard. The entire project is off-grid and a photovoltaic (PV) system will power the facilities and use a roof-mounted array on the maintenance structure.   

“These improvements will allow the National Park Service to provide better service to the over 60,000 visitors to the Pinnacles National Monument’s west side each year. We have been working to improve west side facilities since flooding in the 80’s and 90’s started destroying them. This is a project that we can be proud of as it protects park resources and provides improved facilities for our local and regional communities - as well as for our national and international visitors. In addition to creating local jobs, this project supports the tourism industry that is so important to the economic vitality of this community,” said Eric Brunnemann, Park Superintendent. “All disturbed areas around the new facilities and where old structures are removed will be replanted with native plants” continued Brunnemann.

Design work under this Recovery Act contract is slated to begin in late May while construction should begin in October and will continue into 2011.

This project is one of nearly 800 projects totaling $750 million across the National Park Service that will be completed with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A full listing of National Park Service Recovery Act projects throughout the country, along with progress reports for each project, are available at https://recovery.doi.gov/nps.

The Recovery Act funds are part of a stimulus package that is an important component of the President's plan to jumpstart the economy and put a down payment on addressing existing challenges so the country can thrive in the 21st century. Under the Recovery Act, the National Park Service is making an investment in conserving America's timeless treasures – our stunning natural landscapes, our monuments to liberty, the icons of our culture and heritage – while helping American families and their communities prosper again. The Department of the Interior is also focusing on renewable energy projects, the needs of American Indians, employing youth and promoting community service.

“With its investments of Recovery Act funds, the Department of the Interior and its bureaus are putting people to work today to make improvements that will benefit the environment and the region for many years to come,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Department’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on www.recovery.gov and on www.interior.gov/recovery. Secretary Salazar has appointed a Senior Advisor for Economic Recovery, Chris Henderson, and an Interior Economic Recovery Task Force to work closely with Interior’s Inspector General and ensure the recovery program is meeting the high standards for accountability, responsibility, and transparency set by President Obama. 

-NPS-