OLYMPIC Lake Crescent Lodge Historic Structures Report

Expanded visitor facilities at the Lake Crescent Lodge site were called for as part of the 1976 National Park Service Development Concept Plan (DCP) and Environmental Assessment of Barnes Point. Increased interest in an expanded facility surfaced when funding for the lodge rehabilitation was removed from the FY 1985 Line Item Construction Program by WASO and programmed into the newly formed Visitor Facility Fund (VFF) as servicewide priority 01.0 and scheduled for FY 1984. In order to meet the accelerated schedule created by this funding change, a Task Directive providing the groundwork for such a project in the form of this Historic Structures Report (Olympic National Park, Package 268, Rehabilitation Lake Crescent Lodge) was developed and approved.

The final objective of all planning efforts upon project completion is the rehabilitation of Lake Crescent Lodge and the surrounding site to meet all applicable building and life safety codes while preserving their historic integrity. In addition to the structural and mechanical requirements of the project, it is necessary to design building improvements compatible with the functional requirements necessary for an efficient and safe hotel operation. Equally important is the need to provide the guest-attracting environment necessary for an economically sound operation.

Besides these major planning efforts to meet expansion objectives, contracts between the concessionaire of the Lake Crescent Facility and Olympic National Park are structured around a program of expansion over the life of the contract. The development program described in the contract has been divided into five areas: visitor accommodations, employee housing, food and support services within the lodge, support facilities and recreational development. Specific target objectives in all of these areas, as outlined in the contracts, are described as being firm with certain negative financial impact for noncompliance, but "much of the detail is adaptable."

The task at hand becomes one of making sure the details involved in the total development are adaptable to the expectations of all parties served. Data from all involved parties in this planning effort has been assimilated as part of the research phase of this document and is included in the discussion of the five development objectives as appropriate.

Site Plan — Lake Crescent Lodge (click on image for a PDF version)

VISITOR ACCOMMODATIONS

Target objectives for overnight visitor accommodations call for expanding the current 54 unit capacity to 110 units and providing recommendations for gift shop, front desk, and business office away from the lake side of the lodge building. Improvements to existing units and the composition of new units to make up the 110 total include:

1) The nine units in the existing second floor of the main lodge building should be maintained in their historic use as guest rooms without individual baths. The configuration of these rooms should remain. One of these rooms, preferably not a lakeside unit, might be used as an office for the facility manager if required. One of these rooms may also be used as a path of emergency egress to remove the current fire escape from the front of the building. Both bathrooms and toilet room on this level should be retained. Replacing the bathtubs with shower stalls and a general improvement of finishes in these rooms is recommended. All rooms on this level will maintain their current historic character. Code and life safety requirements will be met as required.

2) Ten units in the existing one-story motel building (bldgs. 940 and 941) are to be appropriately redecorated including paint, carpeting, draperies, lamps and other small furniture and accessories. Major furniture will be replaced as needed in the opinion of the National Park Service.

3) Ten units in the existing two-story motel building will receive improvements similar to those described in number two above.

4) Four units in three cabins (bldgs. 661, 662 and 664) to the west of the lodge will be rehabilitated to re-establish a 30-50 year life, complying with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and other appropriate regulations.

5) Approximately seventy-seven additional units called for may include the current row of cabins (bldgs. 668-674) adjacent to the lodge. These represent 14 total units of which four have two bedrooms. If these ynits are to be retained, they are to be fully rehabilitated to re-establish a firm 30-50 year useful life. Major rehabilitation work will be required on these units to establish the prescribed condition for use. See Appendix E. for a detailed analysis of their condition and recommendations for rehabilitation and/or replacement.

Buildings 675 through 680 will be withdrawn from use and scheduled for removal beginning with the fifth year (1987) of their current contract. Compliance with internal Park Service policy for such action is required and will be handled by the Pacific Northwest Regional Office.

If buildings 668-674 are to be renovated for visitor rental, they will provide a total of 14 of the suggested 77 units, leaving 63 to be added through new construction. Placement of these units, and the materials to be used in their construction, will be prescribed by park and regional professionals in order to protect historical and site integrity and to incorporate such construction into long-term development on Barnes Point.

EMPLOYEE HOUSING

Doubling overnight accomodations will require significant staffing increases. Since all current employee housing, except for the manager's unit over the current cocktail lounge, will be withdrawn from use according to current concessionaire contracts, space must be provided according to numbers projected by the concessionaire. Contract requirements call for a facility that consists of either separate cabins or dormitory units, not to exceed two stories. The basic style of two people per room, with an associated group living area for several rooms, is desirable. Placement of these units must conform to the long-range plans of the total site as developed through appropriate planning agencies. Design and location criteria will be forwarded by park and regional staff as it becomes available.

FOOD AND SUPPORT SERVICE WITHIN LODGE

A dining area with lakeside view, that retains the atmosphere of the existing lodge building, is called for in development plans. An expanded cocktail lounge is also required. Various rearrangements of the existing lodge have been considered in earlier discussions. Specific proposals must be tied directly to the requirements necessary to expand capacity to serve the projected 110-unit objective while complying with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and other codes and regulating criteria.

Dining Room:

—Suggested seating in the dining room is one hundred with a general square footage of 2,000. This square footage contemplates one entry/exit for public use and one entry/exit between the kichen and dining room room. The one-entry situation is highly desirable to provide control needed in payment of meal checks and for seating.

—The dining room should have all freestanding tables and chairs for flexibility in use by park visitors as well as by group meetings or banquets.

—The dining room should join the kitchen so as to reduce travel distance to the customer.

—Consideration should be given to treatment of windows that face the lake so sun infiltration can be controlled.

—Various methods of natural ventilation should be utilized, since air conditioning is not justified on a cost-benefit ratio.

—The ability to secure various dining sections from public access during non-open hours is desirable.

—The inherent operation problems of twenty-four-hour access to the upper-story guest rooms through potential dining spaces below need be addressed.

Kitchen:

—A kitchen with a square footage of 2,000 is highly desirable, but a minimum of 1,500 should be provided to cover the requirements for preparation and cooking, pantry, warewashing, walk-in freezer, walk-in meat/dairy/vegetable and fruit refrigerated storage, and dry storage.

—A four-hundred-square foot employee dining area near the kitchen is desirable.

—Service and delivery access to the kitchen should be located in an inconspicuous area away from visitor entrances to the lodge.

Cocktail Lounge/Bar:

—The new cocktail lounge and bar should contain approximately 600 square feet of space and serve 40 customers at one time. A lake view is desirable.

—A one entry/exit situation, except emergency exiting, is desirable.

—The storage and security needs required in conjunction with the operation of the bar need to be addressed.

—Noise levels associated with the operation of the bar need to be taken into consideration.

Restrooms:

—Space for the men's and women's restrooms should meet the code requirements for a facility of a 100-seat dining room, 40 person cocktail lounge, gift shop, and lobby area. Restrooms should be located conveniently to all of the above-mentioned functions.

Additional Space:

—Public meeting spaces would be desirable on the first floor level if space allows. Such spaces could be partitioned off from regular dining as required in portions of the building considered non-historic.

SUPPORT FACILITIES

Buildings 666, 656, 657 and 682 are currently used for laundry, maintenance, storage and similar functions, respectively. Concessionaire contracts call for vacating these facilities no later than the sixth year (1988) of the current contract. Such action requires compliance with Park Service policy and will be handled through the Pacific Northwest Regional Office. The replacement of these facilities will follow recommendations made by design staff at park and regional levels and will satisfy long-range development objectives for Barnes Point.

RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

This plan developed by the concessionaire and approved by the park should propose facilitating services that will encourage lake recreation, hiking, bicycling, group travel, and other activities to other points of Olympic National Park. Various service levels of satisfying this requirement are outlined in the contract, the least being that the resort serve as a waystop or inn of convenience. An optimal development plan would carry out park objectives and ideals for the visitor by actively encouraging and facilitating park-related experiences, both active and passive, and both within and outside of the immediate site.