Sperry Chalet's rebuild on track to continue

The prevailing phrase Wednesday night seemed to be “a once-in-a-lifetime project.”

The operative consensus seemed to be that the prolonged partial government shutdown that ended last month will not torpedo plans to launch, probably in July, phase two of the reconstruction of the Sperry Chalet dormitory in Glacier National Park.

The Sprague Fire in late August 2017 gutted the stone chalet’s two-story dormitory and phase one of its rebuild was completed last year.

“It’s certainly our hope that work on this project continues on,” said Jeff Mow, superintendent of Glacier National Park.

“I feel real positive about it,” said Doug Mitchell, executive director of the Glacier National Park Conservancy, which has helped raised money to fund the reconstruction. “I feel it is one of those projects people really want to get done.”

And there was talk Wednesday, on the cusp of Valentine’s Day, that the work to fully resurrect the chalet would be a labor of love.

Bob Jellison worked as a carpenter on Sperry Chalet during phase one of its reconstruction, which was shepherded last year by Dick Anderson Construction.

“I’m passionate about that place, its heart and soul,” he said.

Mow, Mitchell, Jellison, several contractors that might bid on phase two, and others attended the Wednesday evening meetings about Sperry Chalet at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell.

At 5 p.m., two employees of the National Park Service’s Denver Service Center briefed contractors potentially interested in bidding on phase two about the bid process.

The briefing included descriptions of logistical challenges facing contractors working at the site in a high-elevation alpine setting, accessible only by trail, and known for extreme and unpredictable weather.

In 2017, the chalet’s detached kitchen and dining room structure escaped major damage after firefighters extinguished a spot fire in the eaves.

In June, the National Park Service announced the award of a $4.08 million contract to Dick Anderson Construction for phase one of the dormitory building’s rebuild.

Construction of phase one began July 9 and ended in October.

The chalet, completed in 1913, was built for the Great Northern Railway as part of the system of “grand hotels and picturesque chalets” in Glacier National Park after the park was established in 1910, according to the National Park Service.

At an elevation of about 6,500 feet, the Sperry Chalet’s rustic accommodations have occupied the edge of a glacier-carved cirque. A nearby talus slope provided stone quarried for the 23-room dormitory building and forests below supplied the original timber.

The Great Northern Railway brought in Italian masons to complete the initial stonework.

On Wednesday, contractors learned masonry work will be a key focus of the phase two rebuild and that permission has been granted to quarry stone, if necessary, from the original source nearby.

After the 2017 wildfire gutted the dormitory, opinions varied about how to best respond. A few people favored simply letting the site return to a natural state. But most people supported reconstruction that would use the stone masonry walls still standing after the fire and retain the original building’s defining historic features and character while also adding a few new materials to enhance structural stability and fire resistance.

Phase one included new foundation work to stabilize and level the interior structure, with the ultimate goal of supporting the completed roof. Additional work focused on seismic stabilization through construction of interior walls, floors and roof framing.

Lauren Alley, a spokeswoman for Glacier National Park, said last year that estimating of phase two costs was underway with Anderson Hallas Architects, the team hired to design phases one and two.

Alley has said funding sources for the reconstruction include federal dollars, property insurance reimbursement and private donations solicited by the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

Mitchell said the conservancy is “looking forward to continuing to play a role in this historic public-private partnership in 2019.

“Over the coming weeks we will be in conversation with the over 1,000 generous supporters who have already stepped up to help, and other people interested in being part of this iconic project to ask for continued support to provide funding for Phase Two of the project where it is most needed, and can have the most impact.”

Contractors who attended the meeting were told more details about the work and bid process will be forthcoming.

Dewey Swank of Swank Enterprises of Kalispell was among the contractors attending that might ultimately bid on phase two.

“We’re just considering it, looking at it,” Swank said.

T.J. Lashley, one of the site superintendents for Dick Anderson Construction during phase one, said the company plans to bid on phase two.

He said work on the first phase offered an incredible experience in a beautiful setting. It was, he said, a “once-in-a-lifetime project.”

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.