By Susan Nebel, Director of Philanthropy
Last year, Washington’s National Park Fund announced Together for the Parks, our multi-year fundraising campaign for Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic. We set an ambitious goal of $20 million which will enable us to fully fund the parks’ annual priority projects that are ready to be implemented while asking our generous community of supporters to go above and beyond to help fund visionary, larger-scale, transformative projects.
One of the most critical? Investing in the visitor experience at Mount Rainier’s most cherished – and most visited – location.
Almost more than any other area in Washington’s national parks, Paradise is being loved to death as millions of people seek to experience its beauty every year. “Restoring Paradise” is a bold plan to restore it to its natural glory, encompassing the recovery of the Paradise Meadows, restoration of a main portion of the popular Skyline Trail, construction of a new 1.2-mile connecting trail from the picnic area up to the Jackson Visitor Center, and rehabilitation of the historic Comfort Station.
We’re excited to report that passionate donors have already stepped up to invest in this key park priority: In 2023, early donation dollars helped secure a contract with an architecture and engineering group to produce schematic design documents for the Comfort Station rehabilitation. The early donations also allowed us to move ahead quickly with an expanded scope of design work (that was unfunded originally) that will now allow a more robust rehabilitation that includes the snow tunnel and tie-ins with the Slate main structure. This phase of work is expected to be complete in January 2024 with construction tentatively planned for 2025.
Built in 1929, the Slate Comfort Station was a marvel of construction with a low-pitched roof strengthened with concrete to resist a snow load of 35 feet (that’s effectively a weight of 1,225-pound-per-square-foot!). This public restroom facility sits beside the Guide House and the Ranger Station and has served visitors for close to 100 years. It was one of five buildings at Paradise named to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Having access to two restroom facilities in the busy months makes for a positive visitor experience, but the Comfort Station serves an even more urgent purpose when visitation is at its lowest as it remains open year-round and provides services to visitors when the Jackson Visitor Center and other facilities at Paradise are closed. It’s so vital to the park’s operations that it even has a nickname amongst park officials: “The Slate.”
Because of its year-round usage and years of deferred maintenance, this Comfort Station has fallen into disrepair. Among other issues, the interior finishes are worn and damaged, the building’s heating system is well beyond its lifecycle, many of the toilet fixtures are broken or malfunctioning, and the roofing on the reinforced concrete structure is failing, resulting in water infiltration into the building and damage to the concrete surfaces.
Perhaps most concerning to the average visitor, though, are the odors. Mold and damp smells caused by poor ventilation can make visitors feel unsafe and unsanitary, diminishing what should be an extraordinary outdoor adventure on the mountain.
This project will rehabilitate the interior and maintain the exterior of this historic and critical Comfort Station. Investments in “Restoring Paradise” will allow Mount Rainier National Park to:
It’s no secret that a functioning Comfort Station is necessary but what may not be so obvious is the emotional value of maintaining the historic character of the structure itself.
“It goes back to why we save historic structures in the first place – it’s to tell those stories of the people,” says Stephanie Clarkson, Historical Architect at Mount Rainier National Park. “The stories aren’t always saved, but we have the buildings here to interpret them.” Old buildings remind us of the people who came before us and push us to imagine the adventures they had here long ago.
This project represents the combination of utility – this is a needed restroom facility and one of few options open year-round at Paradise – and the urgency of preserving the park’s historic structures which are gradually deteriorating over time. Unfortunately, as the federal budgets provided to the parks have stayed largely flat and the list of maintenance needs grows, projects like this one – ones that require a major financial investment – tend to be deferred.
Increasingly, private philanthropic support is a key factor in achieving the park’s vision. Park lovers like you have the power to take big projects like this off the back burner and make them immediate – and achievable – priorities.
We hope you will join us as we support the park in modernizing the Paradise Comfort Station to meet the needs of many decades’ worth of new visitors while restoring and preserving its historic character.
As Mount Rainier approaches its 125th anniversary in 2024, let us take the necessary action to preclude further deterioration of our beloved mountain. The time is now to join our visionary campaign Together for the Parks, to ensure Mount Rainier has the resources to restore paradise for the enjoyment of generations to follow.
Ready to join us and make a difference? Get in touch by emailing me at susan@wnpf.org – I’d love to share more about how you can get involved.
Washington’s National Park Fund is the official philanthropic partner to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. With your help, we raise private support to preserve and protect Washington’s national parks, funding scientific research, youth and family experiences, and projects that will keep these parks strong and vital now and forever, for everyone. You can learn more about our five-year campaign at togetherfortheparks.org.
Cover photo by Alex Day. All other photos courtesy of NPS/Mount Rainier National Park