JUNEAU, Alaska — The community of Gustavus has reached out to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young to help keep the Glacier Bay Lodge open after the National Park Service received no bids for concession services for the lodge, not even from the current concessionaires.
The closure of the lodge would be a major blow to the economy of the southeast Alaska community, according to the Juneau Empire. The concession contract requires boat tours of Glacier Bay, ground transportation for tourists, fuel sales, lodging and other services that make travel to a remote area a little more comfortable.
Murkowski and Young wrote to new U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell detailing the importance of the lodge and urging quick action.
“What troubles us is that the NPS knows what the problem is,” the letter states. “As currently constructed, the prospectus for concession contract proposals is in no way viable for the concessionaire in the eyes of the private sector. The feedback NPS received from potential bidders was clear. Certainly, attracting zero bids should be an obvious enough statement.”
The Park Service’s 10-year contract with Huna Totem Corp. and food services company Aramark expires in December. The two firms provide services as part of a joint venture.
The contract that the park service advertised in January includes a list of 192 repairs that need to be made in 2014 and 2015. The park service estimates the cost of the repairs at $231,000. The lodge averaged slightly over $1.9 million in revenue between 2010 and 2012.
Under the proposed contract, the concessionaire would have to set aside 3 percent of its gross receipts annually for continued maintenance.
JoAnn Lesh, owner of the Gustavus Inn, is the president of the Gustavus Visitors Association, which has been active in getting local business owners to advocate for the Glacier Bay Lodge. Lesh hopes the letter to Jewell results in a better concessionaire’s contract. She worries that the local economy would be devastated without the lodge to provide services.
“The key problem for Gustavus businesses is that without the critical mass of people that the lodge brings here, we will not be able to support a lot of the great opportunities we have for tourists,” Lesh said.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Superintendent Susan Boudreau said the community’s concerns aren’t lost on her.
“We care about Gustavus and we have a number of tour operators and businesses that have been great with us,” Boudreau said. “We want to do what we can to make this work.”
Boudreau said three options are being considered.
One would be an extension of the contract with the current concessionaires, if acceptable terms can be agreed upon. Another would be to create a temporary contract for the boat tours. A third would be to revise the proposed contract and send it out for bid again, which Boudreau said is a daunting task.
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