PORT ANGELES — New guest cabins will be available when Olympic National Park’s Log Cabin Resort at Lake Crescent opens for the season in May.
The park awarded a $2,220,924 construction contract to Advanced Technology Construction of Tacoma to replace eight guest cabins and construct a new manager’s residence at Log Cabin Resort.
Log Cabin Resort closed for the season Sept. 30. Work is now underway including the demolition of the deteriorated guest cabins.
The work at Log Cabin Resort will last six months with the new guest cabins scheduled to be complete and operational when the resort opens for the 2018 season in late May.
The deteriorated guest cabins were likely constructed in the 1930s and many of them came from other resorts that previously operated around the lake, said Penny Wagner, public information officer for the park.
The new cabins will be constructed from log cabin kits.
Two of the cabins will meet national guidelines for persons with disabilities. A trail compliant with American with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act will connect the cabins with primary activities at the resort, Wagner said.
Four of the cabins will have kitchenettes.
The project also includes road, parking and utility improvements associated with the new cabins.
The new guest cabins and manager’s residence project is funded by concession franchise fees. These are a percentage of the concessionaire’s annual revenue that is returned to the park and support concession operations.
The park used concession franchise fees to complete other projects at Log Cabin Resort throughout the past few years including upgrading the RV campground, improving accessibility for Log Cabin Lodge, constructing a restroom building adjacent to the dock for day users, expanding the day use parking lot, and demolishing the manager’s residence, Wagner said.
New boat docks were constructed through grant funding and concession franchise fees, she said, and the park also installed a new water tank with seismic upgrades.
Future plans include a new wastewater treatment plant.
Aramark Corp. was awarded a 10-year concession contract to operate Log Cabin Resort in October 2013. In the contract the park committed to replacing the eight guest cabins and manager’s residence.