Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jackson Visitor Center during the summer.

The Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center is a day-use facility located in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. The facility offers diverse exhibits, films, guided ranger programs, a book store, a snack bar, and a gift shop^[1], as well as public restrooms, accommodations and informational brochures and maps.

The vistor center opened in 1966 as part of the National Park Service's Mission 66 program. Originally known as the Paradise Visitor Center, it was renamed in 1987^[2] after the death of Congressman Henry M. Jackson, who had been instrumental in the development of the program at Mt. Rainier^[3]. Construction on a new visitor center began in 2006^[4], and when complete the park service intends to tear down the Jackson Visitor Center^[5]^[6].

1 History
2 Architecture
3 Decommissioning
4 References
5 Notes

[edit] History

Mount Rainier was a pilot park in the Mission 66 program to expand National Park visitor services. The plans for the Paradise Visitor Center as a day-use facility came about as a compromise when the program was still trying to determine whether overnight lodging would be feasible. Construction began in 1964, and was to include a restaurant, museum, information center, ski rental shop and a warming hut. By the time construction was completed in 1966, costs had grown to $2 million.^[7]

[edit] Architecture

The building was designed by Whimberley, Whisenand, Allison & Tong of Honolulu, with McGuire & Muri of Tacoma, Washington. The structure's round shape and distinctive roof were intended to fit its surrounding mountain landscape. A flyer produced for the opening ceremony spoke of "the swooping, bough-like shape of the beams, the branching 'tree' columns, the 'switchback trail' ramps, and the sloped 'cliffs' of the stone base."^[7]

The architecture, after the modernist style common to many of the Mission 66 projects, was always controversial. Drawing frequent comparisions to a flying saucer, it reminded others of a sunken Seattle Space Needle.^[7] Even today, it is accused of not fulfilling its goal of appropriateness for its setting, instead being "incompatible with the rustic character of Paradise"^[8]. Others disagree with this assertion, claiming that "although it doesn't match the rustic styling of Paradise's other buildings, its grandness seems to fit the location"^[9].

[edit] Decommissioning

Beyond the varied response to the building's appearance, other more significant architectural problems have led the National Park Service to replace the Jackson Visitor Center with a more traditional design. The roof of the existing structure was not designed to handle the copious amounts of snowfall in the Paradise area each winter, requiring between 300 and 500 gallons of diesel fuel per day during the snow season to keep the roof from collapsing. Additionally, the building no longer meets current building and accessibility codes^[8], despite ramps and other features that require a disproportionate amount of space^[10].

A smaller, more energy-efficient^[11]^[8] visitor center is currently being built. This construction may be completed by November, 2008^[12]. After the replacement visitor center is open to the public, the park service intends to demolish the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center and use the land for parking ^[13].