New lodges replace old cabins at Yellowstone's Canyon area

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – The cabins at Yellowstone National Park's Canyon Lodge were built in the 1950s and '60s as part of the National Park Service's Mission 66.

Those 400 cabins have long looked dated. Even when they were built, they were criticized for their plain design.

The Canyon cabins were never intended to be in use for 60 years, said Mia Bell, assistant general manager for Xanterra's Yellowstone National Park Lodges.

"They did more than their intended service," she said.

Those cabins are finally being removed to make way for new lodging.

Five new lodges, each with 73 to 87 rooms, are under construction where the cabins used to stand.

Three of those buildings will open to guests early next month. The two other buildings will open next summer.

Due to Yellowstone's dramatic weather and short construction season, most of the work on the buildings was done on an assembly line in a giant warehouse in Boise.

The buildings were constructed as 53-foot-long modules that were hauled to Yellowstone in the middle of the night on semi trucks.

"When we get them here, we stack them just like dominoes," said Rich Dunn, site superintendent of logistics for Martel Construction of Bozeman, the general contractor on the project.

That method allowed three buildings to be built in six months, he said. If the lodges were stick-built, it would have taken two and a half years to complete a single building.

"I just went up really fast," Bell said.

Each module unit includes two guest rooms. The modules arrive in Yellowstone with the walls painted, the tile finished in the bathrooms and the mirrors hung on the wall.

"When we get them, they're ready to put a bed in them," Dunn said.

Part of Dunn's job was to inspect each room as the modules were put together. He expected to find mirrors that had crashed off the wall and tiles cracked into pieces. He was pleasantly surprised that he was wrong.

"There was not one single tile broken," Dunn said.

The crews only had to finish the hallways because that's where the modules are stitched together.

On average, crews were able to stack 13 modules per day.

"If it's real windy, that slows us down a lot," Dunn said.

After the modules are stacked, the trusses are built and the roof is installed.

The redevelopment at Canyon Lodge is part of Xanterra's 20-year contract as the concessionaire in Yellowstone National Park. That contract calls for $150 million in improvements of Yellowstone's lodging and dining facilities.

The Canyon Lodge project will account for $90 million. Other projects in that contract include the renovation of Lake Hotel and a new dorm at Old Faithful Inn.

The Old Faithful dorm project allows historic cabins that have most recently been used as employee housing to return to guest use.

Yellowstone's lodges are full almost every night throughout the summer, Bell said. Part of the goal of these projects is to make way for more guest rooms.

However, the new lodges at Canyon won't offer more rooms than the cabins that were previously there. The five new lodges will have a total of 409 rooms.

The new lodges will offer a range of rates. Larger suites that have multiple bedrooms and balconies will run $479 a night. On the low end, small rooms on the third floor of the buildings will rent for $122 a night, which is close to what the rate at some of the old cabins.

"It is so much better than what was here before for the same price," Bell said.

Xanterra opted to build five smaller buildings rather than one huge hotel to give the area more of the feel of a village.

"You would otherwise have a giant hotel surrounded by parking lots," Bell said.

Canyon was once home to a grand lodge. The Canyon Hotel opened in 1911. With 400 rooms and 100 bathrooms, it was the largest building in the park.

Canyon Hotel closed after the 1959 season as national parks, under Mission 66, put more emphasis on motor lodges and cabins that could be easily accessed by the surge of tourists who drove their own vehicles through the park. The large lodges built with railroad passengers in mind where thought to be out of style.

Following the vehicle-friendly guidelines, individual cabins, along with a main building, were constructed near the hotel and completed in 1957.

After Canyon Hotel closed, demolition on the gigantic structure began. The hotel met its ultimate demise in a fire in August 1960 that burned the building to the ground. No cause was ever determined for the fire.

The Canyon Lodge, which doesn't offer any rooms, but instead houses a restaurant, cafeteria and gift shop, will remain in place. It will also be renovated beginning in Fall 2016.

Canyon Lodge was constructed as part of Mission 66 and still has a mid-century flare. The lodge's renovation aims to bring out some of its 1960s style.

"Think Mad Men," Bell said.

The lodge's lobby features star burst chandeliers that used to be painted so each arm of the fixture was a different color. Currently painted white, the multi-colors will return, along with other details to highlight its 1960s style.

The five new lodges will feature a more subdued color scheme. The color pallet for the interior is based on Thomas Moran's iconic paintings of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

"The color pallet's really cool," Bell said.

The paint colors are complemented by wainscoting made of bettle-kill wood, that varies in color from brown to gray to blue.

The buildings' exteriors feature large logs and steep roof lines.

The new lodges were built to environmentally friendly standards and will be LEED silver certified. The bathroom counter tops are made of recycled glass. There will be electric car charging stations at each lodge. And room lights can only be on when the key card is inserted in a slot inside the room, that way lights aren't left on all day while visitors are out exploring the park.

Cascade Lodge and Dunraven Lodge, which opened in 1993 and 1998, respectively, will continue to offer guest lodging in the Canyon area.

When the final two new buildings are finished, the whole area will be connected by walking trails and bike paths.

"It's going to be very pedestrian friendly," Bell said.

"The landscaping is beautiful that's going to go in here," Dunn added.

The Mission 66 cabins, built for the National Park Service's 50th anniversary, were only expected to be in use for 30 years or so. Now, in preparation of the Park Service's centennial, the new lodges are expected to have a much longer life span.

"I would expect that these would go 50 years at least," Dunn said.

Erin Madison is the outdoors reporter at the Great Falls Tribune. She can be reached at 406-791-1466 or emadison@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_EMadison.

Watch a time-lapse video of the lodges being built: