Crater
Lake lookout is under renovation
Mail Tribune
Medford, Oregon
August 18, 1999
By PAUL FATTIG
CRATER LAKE -- The weathered Watchman is getting a face lift.
The Watchman fire lookout tower and trailside museum, built in
1931-32, is being rehabilitated in the Crater Lake National Park
as part of an effort to preserve the past as well as continue
the tower's main task as a fire observation outpost.
"The Watchman as a fire tower will always have a role for
spotting fires," said Kent Taylor, the park's chief of cultural
resources management, of the site that rises to 8,013 feet above
sea level.
"It has a clear view of the west side of the park, and a full
view of the upper Rogue (River) area," he added. The lookout has
remained staffed since the rehabilitation work began two weeks
ago.
It's a classic example of the "Cascadian rustic architectural
style," Taylor said.
That style incorporates large native lava boulders and heavy
wooden beams into an attractive structure that blends in with
the majestic scenery at the park.
This summer's work, which ends Sept. 21, includes restoring the
catwalk surrounding the observation deck, the exterior stairway
and the museum roof, Taylor said.
Next summer the rehabilitation will turn to restoring the
observation deck, and the interiors of the observation room,
museum and lower rooms, he added.
The restoration work is based on the original construction
drawings from 1931.
Leading the work will be preservation specialists from the
National Park Service's Historic Preservation Training Center in
Frederick, Md. While doing the rehabilitation work, the
specialists will teach 10 trainees from Crater Lake and other
national parks the technique.
The $430,000 cost of the two-year project comes from park
entrance fees established through the Recreation Fee
Demonstration Program, authorized by Congress in 1996.
The Watchman tower was built as a fire lookout, Taylor said,
noting that the museum was built as the same time as an
educational tool.
"When they built it, there was already a feeling (within the
agency) of developing appropriate facilities in the park for the
public," Taylor said.
"In doing the restoration, we're staying with theme of forest
fires. But it will also reflect the current thinking that fire
is not the evil thing people used to portray it as."
During the past two decades, park officials have come to see
fire in the forest habitat as a natural occurrence that can
improve forest health, he explained.
