The lobby wing also had only a crawl space. Installing a basement under it required shoring the entire wing to excavate and pour new concrete walls. This was partially facilitated while the adjacent Great Hall wing was removed and its basement built concurrently. The new basements and the deepening of existing basements to create additional head room provided space for service and utility equipment and plumbing and mechanical runs where none had existed.
Two techniques were employed for stabilizing un-reinforced stone masonry walls of the lodge (see details). The stone appearance was sacrificed where the interior could not be seen by visitors. A 4″ reinforced application of shotcrete anchored to the interior side of the repointed stone wall provided the necessary reinforcement. Where both interior and the exterior stone surfaces of walls would be seen, the exterior was thoroughly pointed, then the inner wythe was dismantled. A reinforced shotcrete core was built and the inner wythe, after stone trimming, was then relayed. All 700 perimeter feet the building’s stone walls were underpinned with a 5′ spread footing, after initial masonry stabilization. This was done in nominal 6’ increments involving excavation, impacting soils, forming and pouring reinforced concrete, waterproofing, and backfilling. Throughout the building undersized floor members were replaced with bigger ones or ‘sisters’ installed to enhance the strength of floor diaphragms.
The design significantly alters the interior room configuration to increase guest room size from an average of 50 square feet to 280 square feet. This reduced the overall room count from 105 to 72, but the new room size apaches contemporary visitor needs, permits the desired range of room sizes, accommodates historic window locations, and eases the proper introduction of shear Is. The increased room size was also necessary to nit the installation of bathrooms where most rooms none.
Two new stairs and two elevators were installed, cut into available guest room floor area. However, the rehabilitation includes creative use of the dormered attic spaces to help increase the floor area for guest room use approximately 20%. The attics above three of the wings were large enough to accommodate guest rooms.
However, introducing two means of code egress from the attic level of the great hall wing was so convoluted, it was decided, initially, to abandon that attic. Then it was decided to place the designated larger guest rooms on the floor below the attic and allow them, room-byroom, to enter the attic as a second level. Thus, several of the (programmed 15%) larger guest rooms became interesting 2-level suites. The attics of the two Annex wings were also physically constrained by the roof configuration, dormers, and width of the wing, but two stairs and the elevators could be squeezed in. Thus, the annex and annex wing will contain 10 rather small rooms, but with the most interesting shapes and character.
The design required retrofitting heating and cooling systems, plumbing, fire sprinkler, smoke detection and alarm systems, and electrical service that the original building was not designed to carry. Every rehabilitation designer knows the extent of gymnastics required to squeeze these modern systems into historic buildings while trying to maintain original ceiling heights. In the kitchen wing, with all of its new equipment, it was necessary to completely gut the three level wing and deepen its basement 3′ to install a fully modern kitchen. This was done, forming a two-level kitchen connected by new stairs and dumbwaiter. Chimneys here (and elsewhere in the lodge) were converted to carry both exhaust gases and to provide make-up air. The result is not “pure restoration” by any means, nor could this extensive rehabilitation achieve such a goal however, from the outside, Crater Lake Lodge will completely resemble its historic appearance. The interior will be a modern hotel while maintaining important aspects of the historic character of a 1920s eclectic rustic style including the historic appearance of the main public spaces, the great hall and dining room. The 55,326 square feet rehabilitation cost $11.8 million net or $213/square foot, not including site work and furnishings.
C. Craig Frazier is a historical architect with the Western Team, Denver Service Center, U.S. National Park Service.
From Cultural Resource Management Magazine, Volume 15, No. 6
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