THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN FULLY FUNDED BY JOHN & SARAH GRAVES
The Glacier Park Preservation Field School is a budding partnership project between the Glacier National Park Conservancy, Montana Preservation Alliance, Glacier National Park, the University of Montana and the Glacier Institute. The goals are to develop and lead preservation and restoration trainings at the Wheeler Camp in the summer of 2017.
Wheeler Camp is a historically significant collection of 1940s log buildings that formerly were the summer retreat for Senator Burton K. Wheeler and his family. This training and preservation effort will have dual benefits: hands-on preservation training for a growing circle of students and tradespeople, and active stabilization and restoration of the log buildings at the Wheeler Camp for future adaptive reuse for educational programs.
Funds for this project will allow the park to conduct four training weeks in historic preservation treatments on log buildings at the Wheeler Camp. The first two weeks will be structured for a general audience of students from University of Montana, University of Pennsylvania and possibly others. The second two weeks will take the training to a deeper level with more highly skilled repairs executed by a training cohort of those more expert in traditional trades such as masonry and log working.
Each workshop will accommodate up to 24 people and have a clear set curriculum and training goals. The second two weeks are envisioned to also tie in with trainers and preservationists under NPS direction elsewhere, including the Vanishing Treasures Western Preservation Training Center at Grand Teton National Park, and the hands-on concessions division training program currently led by MPA with Yellowstone National Park, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Delaware North and Yellowstone Park Service Stations.
