Interior Department allots more than $250 million for national park infrastructure projects
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than $256 million in funding has been approved for national park infrastructure, the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a news release Wednesday, June 6.
The list includes projects at two Great Lakes region sites:
- Valley Forge National Historical Park in Prussia, Pa., will receive $10 million to rehabilitate its visitor center. The park is the site of a Revolutionary War encampment, northwest of Philadelphia. Trails connect the key monuments and historic structures, including the early-20th-century National Memorial Arch and the Muhlenberg Brigade’s recreated log-cabin barracks.
- New York’s Statue of Liberty National Monument will get $33.2 million to help stabilize the Ellis Island seawall. Of the 22 projects across 14 states and the District of Columbia, only Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina will receive more – $35.2 million for a North Shore Road monetary settlement.
The National Park Service completed over $650 million in maintenance and repair work in Fiscal Year 2017, but aging facilities, high visitation, and resource constraints have kept the maintenance backlog between $11 billion and $12 billion since 2010, the Interior said in the release.
Approved Fiscal Year 2018 National Park Service construction projects, according to the DOI:
| Unit | Project | Location | Funding |
| George Washington Memorial Parkway | Arlington Memorial Bridge Repairs | Washington, D.C. | $18.2 million |
| National Mall and Memorial Parks | Jefferson Memorial Roof and Portico | Washington, D.C. | $21.37 million |
| Lowell National Historical Park | Replace windows of Boott Mill Museum | Massachusetts | $4.17 million |
| Cape Cod National Seashore | Upgrade visitor access at Herring Cove Beach | Massachusetts | $5.4 million |
| Yellowstone National Park | Mammoth Hotel Guest Room Wings upgrades | Wyoming | $21.3 million |
| Fort Point National Historic Site | North Barbette Tier and Fort Point repairs | California | $6 million |
| Channel Islands National Park | Replace Anacapa derrick crane | California | $3.9 million |
| Mount Rushmore National Memorial | Replace plaza paver system and rehabilitate visitor center | South Dakota | $8.9 million |
| Vicksburg National Military Park | Stabilize railroad redoubt earthworks | Mississippi | $5.9 million |
| Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve | Construct Electrical Intertie to Falls Creek Hydro Project – Renewable Energy & Sustainability | Alaska | $7.5 million |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Rehabilitate Elkmont waste water system | Tennessee | $2.6 million |
| Valley Forge National Historical Park | Rehabilitate visitor center | Pennsylvania | $10 million |
| Old Santa Fe Trail Building | Rehab Building for Seismic, Rehab Exterior Envelope and Historic Elements | New Mexico | $2.8 million |
| Lake Mead National Recreation Area | Replace Water Intake Barge with Shoreline Wells at Katherine Landing to Ensure Reliable Water Supply | Arizona | $1.9 million |
| Death Valley National Park | Restore Flood-Damaged Historic Scotty’s Castle Visitor Center | California | $5.4 million |
| Carlsbad Caverns National Park | Replace Old/Failing Primary Electrical Distribution Infrastructure | New Mexico | $3.4 million |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | North Shore Road Monetary Settlement | North Carolina | $35.2 million |
| Mammoth Cave National Park | Reconstruct Unsafe Cave Trail Along Grand Avenue Tour Between Snowball and Grand Central | Kentucky | $13.9 million |
| Statue of Liberty National Monument | Stabilize Ellis Island Seawall-Phase III | New York | $33.2 million |
| National Capital Regional Office | Rehabilitate National Mall and Memorial Parks, US Park Police, and Regional Office Campus | District of Columbia | $11.8 million |
| Yosemite National Park | Rehabilitate Wawona Wastewater Treatment Plant. | California | $21.5 million |
| Glacier National Park | Rebuild/reconstruct Sperry Chalet | Montana | $12 million |
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