An aggressive plan could lead to Glacier National Park's Sperry Chalet reopening to visitors in 2020/NPS

With rock taken from a nearby talus slope and fir, cedar, and pine trees downed from the surrounding forests, craftsmen in 1913-14 raised the two-story Sperry Chalet near the lip of a cirque with a panoramic view into the heart of Glacier National Park.

Great Northern Railway President Louis Hill saw Sperry and other chalets in the park as an adventuresome extension of his railroad. Starting with Belton Chalet across from the train depot in West Glacier, he oversaw construction of nine chalets that stretched across the park and which were used to entice railroad passengers to see Glacier from the back of a horse with nights spent in relative comfort.

Presidents Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't travel from chalet to chalet across the park, but did spend time in the Two Medicine Chalet, a log cabin. President Hoover turned that lodge into his "summer White House" in August 1930, and President Roosevelt spent two days there in 1934 during his "National Parks Tour."

"Today, for the first time in my life, I have seen Glacier Park," President Roosevelt said in a national radio broadcast from the chalet. "Perhaps I can best express to you my thrill and delight by saying that I wish every American, old and young, could have been with me today. The great mountains, the glaciers, the lakes, and the trees make me long to say here for all the rest of the summer."

But the grand era of the chalets -- Belton, Two Medicine, Cutbank, St. Mary, Sun Point, Many Glacier, Granite Park, Sperry, and Gunsight Lake -- came to an end with World War II. Today all that are left are Belton, Granite Park, and the charred shell of Sperry, which was destroyed in a matter of hours on the last day of August 2017 by flames from a forest fire that left behind only the blackened stone skeleton of one of the park system's most unique lodgings.

The skeleton did not fall, however, and the future of Sperry Chalet seems ensured as the Glacier Conservancy responded quickly to see the rock walls stabilized before winter arrived, while Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the National Park Service have committed to rebuilding the backcountry way station.

"I do think the speed with which we were able to respond in the emergency situation, that’s where it was really helpful that the Conservancy existed," Doug Mitchell, the Conservancy's president and chief executive, told me. "In literally a matter of almost hours we were able to walk a credit card down to the local hardware store down the street from us here in Columbia Falls and purchase the 100 6-inch by 6-inch timbers that needed to be helicoptered out to the park later that week" to stablize the remains.

For the Conservancy to be able to spend roughly $120,000 on stabilizing the chalet's skeleton before winter was something of a godsend, agrees Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow.

“They were able to make some things happen for the stabilization effort that needed to happen quickly. I think they were able to tap into just this network of park visitors that felt really connected to that particular structure and were able to utilize that to help us raise some money quickly to get some things done. That was really pretty remarkable," said the superintendent.

“You know, quite honestly, we didn’t think that we could have used government funds to pull that off," he added. "I don’t know if we would have gotten the emergency declaration that would have allowed us to put aside all our procurement rules to acquire the materials we need to get in there and stabilize it. And it really did come into those materials, and the acquisition process, to make that happen. Because of the dollar amount of materials, when you exceed $2,500 or $3,000, you need to go to contracting process, get a low bid, put it out. We would not have been able to go down to the local lumberyard and order 100 6-by-6 by 20-foot long beams, and 1,000 of these foot-long bolts and stuff like that.

“That’s just not how we roll with public funds," Superintendent Mow said. “Being responsive in that was really the role that they filled in a big, big way there.”

On Tuesday the park released its draft environmental assessment on how to rebuild the chalet, and it recommends rebuilding the structure in place.

"The design would restore the chalet dormitory reflecting its period of significance (1914-1949). Some critical updates would be included including current building codes where applicable, and improvements to life safety features including seismic bracing and fire resistant materials," the document said. "The visitor experience would be very similar to what it has been for decades by using as much of the remaining historic fabric, and replicating historic finishes where practicable."

Among the proposed upgrades would be a fire alarm system, and another calls for an accessible room for visitors with disabilities. Additional rock, if needed, would be sourced from the nearby quarry that was used in 1913-14 when the chalet was built. Helicopters and stock would bring up other building materials.

A cost was not attached to the project, though Superintendent said it could run in the range of $8-$12 million.

“We’ve got an (architectural and engineering) firm that is trying to give us a better estimate of what those costs will look like," he said. "We are hoping in the next month or so we will have a much better figure on that."

Back at the Glacier Conservancy, Mr. Mitchell said planning for rebuilding the chalet is being based on an aggressive schedule, "which would involve some significant work being accomplished this year. That’s going to be a little bit tricky just because it is such a short season. But they really want to make sure that in this year they can at least make some progress on what I’ll call a permanent structural stabilization plan."

If circumstances -- cooperative weather, quick acceptance and approval of a rebuilding plan, and funding, a good chunk from donations -- allow, this summer's work could lead to a 2019 construction season that finishes the new chalet in time to reopen to guests in 2020, he said.

"There’s a lot of trail work to be done. There are trees down all over the place," said the Conservancy president. "Not only did we have a fire, but we had wind events. So, there’s going to be a lot of work that’s going to go on in the Sperry area just to be able to restore just the hiking experience. ... If everything went perfectly, finishing it out in 2019, and again, that’s an aggressive timeline and it may have to move, but that would certainly be an exciting accomplishment.”