This was how National Park Service planners in 2016 envisioned a lodging plan for Flamingo at Everglades National Park/NPS

In a bullish move considering Florida's reputation for being targeted by hurricanes, Guest Services, Inc., has agreed with the National Park Service to return lodging to Everglades National Park at Flamingo, which has gone without overnight accommodations since 2005 when the existing facilities were battered by hurricanes.

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma delivered a one-two punch to the lodge at Flamingo in 2005. The storms ravaged Flamingo with powerful winds and a nearly ten-foot storm surge. The hotel and cabins were damaged beyond repair.

Replacements to the razed facilities long have been promised. While park officials came up with a plan to replace the lodge in 2010, that lodging proposal with its $78 million price tag was deemed too expensive by then-Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, especially in light of the park's history with storms and the short occupancy season (summer is too buggy for most Everglades visitors).

A year ago, rather than wait for a willing concessionaire to build lodging at Flamingo with their own financing, park officials announced that they had saved enough money from entrance fees and other revenue streams to offer $5 million against the construction of a modest number of cottages and "eco-tent" structures. If the eventual concessionaire wished to go beyond the lodging units required in the park's prospectus, so be it, but at least the $5 million offer would help bootstrap a lodging base for visitors wanting to spend more than a day at Flamingo on Florida Bay.

On May 30 the park reached a tentative deal with Everglades Guest Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guest Services, Inc., to provide visitor services in the Flamingo district. Whether that $5 million offer was involved in the deal was not mentioned. Indeed, the Park Service release didn't go into the financial aspects of the contract at all, and park personnel could not be reached by phone Friday evening to discuss that aspect.

The contract requires construction of 24 cottages and 20 eco-tents by December 2019, but authorizes a total of 40 cottages and 40 eco-tents. Apart from campsites, this will be the first expanded overnight accommodations in the park since 2005.

If Congress doesn't object and the contract is formally signed, Guest Services will manage all visitor services in Long Pine Key and Flamingo, including campgrounds, boat tours of Florida Bay and Whitewater Bay, a new restaurant co-located with the cottages, and retail operations. The new accommodations are to be environmentally friendly, affording a sustainable visitor experience, the park said in a release. The 20-year term of the contract will enable the new operator to invest in needed visitor services and make customer service a priority, the release added.

“Guest Services has a long history of serving our national parks and the millions of visitors that come out to visit them. We are thrilled that we can now move forward with Guest Services to revitalize Flamingo and offer quality services that will enhance the visitor experience at Everglades National Park,” said Pedro Ramos, superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks.

Gerry Gabrys, CEO of Guest Services, Inc. similarly shared his enthusiasm, saying “2017 has been a very special year for our organization as it marks a ‘Century of Service’ since our founding in 1917. When we received this tremendous news from the National Park Service, our Centennial Celebration became even more special. We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to steward and enhance visitor services within the Everglades – truly one of America’s most iconic national parks.”

Flamingo is accessed by water, through Florida Bay, or a 45-minute scenic drive through the park. Under the concessions plan, visitors should be able to walk out their cottage door, and within minutes have the opportunity to see crocodiles, alligators, manatees, sawfish, sea turtles, dolphin, tarpon and more. Flamingo is also a world-class birding and fishing paradise, with rich history of peoples and industries from the Calusa & Tequesta Indians, Guy Bradley and the Audubon Society, to Henry Flagler and agriculture.

As to Florida's reputation for being in the path of hurricanes, according to the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 40 percent of all U.S. hurricanes hit the Sunshine State, and 85 percent of major hurricanes have either hit Florida or Texas. Between 1851 and 2015, of the 290 hurricanes that have come ashore between Texas and Maine, 114 have hit Florida, the division notes. Thirty-seven of those 114 have been "major" hurricanes.