Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011
New Sunrise Visitor Center impresses
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Dean J. Koepfler / The News Tribune
Stephen Pistolessi, a employee of Color-Ad of Manassas, Va., works in the new exhibit space at Sunrise Visitor Center at Mount Rainier National Park Thursday. June 30, 2011 finishing installation of interpretive displays for the public opening. The center's 70's vintage flooring have been replaced with warm vertical-grain Douglas-fir.
Visitors to the freshly updated Sunrise Visitor Center will be greeted by the soft glow of the light reflecting off new fir floors, exhibit panels full of information, and displays that depict the unique nature of that side of Mount Rainier.
The center reopened earlier this month after park staff and contractors spent more than a year and $600,000 preparing the center building and new exhibits.
Walking around the center more than a week before the opening, as contractors worked to complete some of the displays, Patti Wold could not stop smiling. As project manager, she has been shepherding the work since plans were developed in 2003.
Wold pointed out that before the center was closed in October 2009, it was awash in gray, from the floor to the information desk to the 1970s-era exhibits themselves.
“The exhibits were pertinent to the area, but a little out of date,” she said. “We wanted the new exhibits to work with the historic character of the building.”
The center is now bathed in earth-toned paint, Alaska yellow cedar countertops, and the soft red cast of the wood floors.
Just as important, Wold said, the exhibits tell the unique story of the park's northeast corner.
“We choose to tell the story of the mountain's influence on this area,” she said. “The vegetation is different. The pumice you find. We're in the rain shadow of the mountain. We also tell the story of native American use of the mountain.”
Wold said the exhibits were developed with the help of the U.S. Geological Survey, area Indian tribes and National Park Service staff. Design, creation and installation of the exhibits cost $363,000, while work on the center itself was another $240,000.
Among the challenges were developing low-tech displays, since power at Sunrise is supplied by a generator, as well as items that can withstand the freeze-thaw cycle of life at 6,400 feet.
One of the most interesting exhibits is an actual cutaway of the ground, a 100-inch tall column showing the layers of dirt, volcanic deposits and development of the present-day cone. James Vallance of the USGS helped develop the display and the information that accompanies it, Wold said.
“The display shows the strata of the ground going back about 8,000 years,” Wold said. “The flip book will explain what the different layers are and how old they are.”
Stripes of various colors, size and composition easily demark each time frame. The multiple, light-colored layers are ash deposits from various volcanic eruptions. A layered of jumbled rock is from a lahar.
“It's the real deal, it's not a replica,” said park archaeologist Greg Brutchard, pointing to layers created by eruptions at Mount St. Helens, the Osceola Mudflow and the Mount Mazama eruption 7,700 years ago that created Crater Lake in Oregon. A team of eight people cut the peel from a site in the Summer Land area, south of Sunrise.
Ranger Chris Roundtree, who has assisted Wold with the project, quickly pointed to the cutaway when asked which was his favorite exhibit. He was part of the team that hiked the four miles to the work site where they did the cutaway.
“There's a lot of hours in that,” he said.
The center reopened earlier this month after park staff and contractors spent more than a year and $600,000 preparing the center building and new exhibits.
Walking around the center more than a week before the opening, as contractors worked to complete some of the displays, Patti Wold could not stop smiling. As project manager, she has been shepherding the work since plans were developed in 2003.
Wold pointed out that before the center was closed in October 2009, it was awash in gray, from the floor to the information desk to the 1970s-era exhibits themselves.
“The exhibits were pertinent to the area, but a little out of date,” she said. “We wanted the new exhibits to work with the historic character of the building.”
The center is now bathed in earth-toned paint, Alaska yellow cedar countertops, and the soft red cast of the wood floors.
Just as important, Wold said, the exhibits tell the unique story of the park's northeast corner.
“We choose to tell the story of the mountain's influence on this area,” she said. “The vegetation is different. The pumice you find. We're in the rain shadow of the mountain. We also tell the story of native American use of the mountain.”
Wold said the exhibits were developed with the help of the U.S. Geological Survey, area Indian tribes and National Park Service staff. Design, creation and installation of the exhibits cost $363,000, while work on the center itself was another $240,000.
Among the challenges were developing low-tech displays, since power at Sunrise is supplied by a generator, as well as items that can withstand the freeze-thaw cycle of life at 6,400 feet.
One of the most interesting exhibits is an actual cutaway of the ground, a 100-inch tall column showing the layers of dirt, volcanic deposits and development of the present-day cone. James Vallance of the USGS helped develop the display and the information that accompanies it, Wold said.
“The display shows the strata of the ground going back about 8,000 years,” Wold said. “The flip book will explain what the different layers are and how old they are.”
Stripes of various colors, size and composition easily demark each time frame. The multiple, light-colored layers are ash deposits from various volcanic eruptions. A layered of jumbled rock is from a lahar.
“It's the real deal, it's not a replica,” said park archaeologist Greg Brutchard, pointing to layers created by eruptions at Mount St. Helens, the Osceola Mudflow and the Mount Mazama eruption 7,700 years ago that created Crater Lake in Oregon. A team of eight people cut the peel from a site in the Summer Land area, south of Sunrise.
Ranger Chris Roundtree, who has assisted Wold with the project, quickly pointed to the cutaway when asked which was his favorite exhibit. He was part of the team that hiked the four miles to the work site where they did the cutaway.
“There's a lot of hours in that,” he said.
What is on display at Sunrise?
Archaeological artifacts: Looks at the evidence of human use of the mountain's resources. Evidence now shows humans have hunted and gathered around the mountain for at least the last 8,500 years and maybe 9,600 years, Burtchard said. Arrow points, projectile points and a 2,000-year-old stone hammer are part of the display. It also includes a modern-day atlatl, similar to one used by ancient Indians to hunt big game. Tours might be offered this summer for the public to visit the site where the artifacts were found by a team from Central Washington University.
Past geologists: This exhibit looks at the geologists who have studied the mountain. A flip book includes copies of stories on previous geologists, including Dwight “Rocky” Crandell, a U.S. Geological Survey staffer who co-wrote a 1978 article that first discussed the evidence of what has become known as the Osceola mudflow, a lahar that took place about 5,600 years ago. A trunk shows some of the tools used by modern-day scientists.
“We've paid tribute to some of the people involved in research on the mountain,” said Patti Wold, project manager. “Without them, we wouldn't know what we know now.”
Geohazard exhibit: This diorama describes what would happen if a lahar occurred today. Pieces of conduit, signs and other debris are encased in mud, meant to show the power of a lahar. A two-minute video is part of the display.
Ridges and valleys: Explains how glaciers and lava flows created the mountain's valleys and system of ridges. One part of the exhibit is a group of andesite columns, the squared rock-like features formed when lava quickly cools when it meets glacial ice. Sunrise sits atop a lava flow, and columns along Sunrise Road are the toe of the flow.
Past geologists: This exhibit looks at the geologists who have studied the mountain. A flip book includes copies of stories on previous geologists, including Dwight “Rocky” Crandell, a U.S. Geological Survey staffer who co-wrote a 1978 article that first discussed the evidence of what has become known as the Osceola mudflow, a lahar that took place about 5,600 years ago. A trunk shows some of the tools used by modern-day scientists.
“We've paid tribute to some of the people involved in research on the mountain,” said Patti Wold, project manager. “Without them, we wouldn't know what we know now.”
Geohazard exhibit: This diorama describes what would happen if a lahar occurred today. Pieces of conduit, signs and other debris are encased in mud, meant to show the power of a lahar. A two-minute video is part of the display.
Ridges and valleys: Explains how glaciers and lava flows created the mountain's valleys and system of ridges. One part of the exhibit is a group of andesite columns, the squared rock-like features formed when lava quickly cools when it meets glacial ice. Sunrise sits atop a lava flow, and columns along Sunrise Road are the toe of the flow.
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