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