Endangered Places Glacier Park Structures Join Others At Risk In Nation

More than 300 structures in Montana’s Glacier National Park are named on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 1996 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places.

“The early popularity of the backcountry chalets and grand hotels of Glacier made them a model for national parks throughout the United States,” said National Trust President Richard Moe. “Glacier may serve as a model once again. It will either show us the importance of recognizing our park’s cultural resources and finding public and private support for their survival, or it will demonstrate how short-sighted planning and lack of awareness results in the destruction of important pieces of our nation’s heritage.”

Since 1988, the National Trust has issued its 11 Most Endangered list to call attention to significant pieces of our heritage at risk.

And the National Trust expanded the list to a dozen for the first time, making a last-minute addition of the nation’s black churches - suddenly endangered by a series of arsons.

“These institutions, in many ways, represent the best of America; the arsons represent the worst,” Moe said at a news conference.

Moe said the preservation group will join in fund-raising for the damaged churches, make repair loans available and assist in finding crafts people and other technical assistance for the congregations.

In Glacier, the always popular Sperry and Granite Park chalets were forced to close their doors in 1992 when significant deterioration and infrastructure problems made them unsafe for continued public use. The Many Glacier Hotel, while still in service, may share the fate of the chalets in the not-so-distant future, the National Trust said in a press release.

Glacier Park Superintendent David A. Mihalic said more than $100 million is needed to bring key historic structures to a standard that is truly representative of their original grandeur.

Tight budgets, increasing demands on park staff and changing priorities have resulted in little or no maintenance of historic structures.

Mihalic said the infrastructure of the 81-year-old Many Glacier Hotel is decaying - the foundation is crumbling, the walls are rotting, both heating and water pipes are outdated and inadequate, he said.

A group called Save the Chalets is trying to raise $1.3 million to go with a $3 million federal grant to restore the chalets.

While some historic sites have appeared repeatedly on the endangered list in the past, Moe said the places listed this year are all newcomers.

The goal, he said, is to attract attention to endangered sites, bringing in more money and getting communities active in saving and restoring them.

“The message that we try to bring to communities is that you have the power to determine what kind of community you want to be,” he said.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Others Also on the list: Sotterly Plantation in Hollywood, Md. Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek, Calif. Adobe churches of New Mexico. Uptown Theater, Chicago. The village of Pentoskey, Mich. Harry S. Truman Historic District, Independence, Mo. East End Historic District, Newburgh, N.Y. Wentworth by the Sea Hotel, New Castle, N.H. East Broad Top Railroad, Huntington County, Pa.