The Park Hotel

The Park Hotel. . , Near this site, in July 1937, Alaska Railroad crews broke ground for the McKinley Park Hotel. , A Modern Wilderness Outpost , Despite financial setbacks and a contentious design (it was modern, not rustic), the hotel opened on June 1, 1930, with beds to accommodate 200 guests, a full trainload of visitors. The hotel also boasted a cocktail lounge, snack bar, assembly room, meeting rooms, and facilities for ranger-conducted interpretive programs., The hotel was sited conveniently close to the McKinley Station Depot, almost all visitors arrived by train for pork's first forty years. , Recreation in Wartime , World War II restricted tourist travel. The hotel closed to civilians from April 10. 1943 to June 10, 1945 but was made available to the United States Army. During these years, the Alaska Defense Command operated the hotel as an Army recreation camp. The year-round camp offered Ice-skating, downhill skiing on Mount Healy, and hiking to Horseshoe Lake. Park rangers presented slide shows. By the time the hotel reopened to the public, over 11,000 military personnel had spent a week in the park. , New life for Old Buildings , The McKinley Park Hotel burned in 1972. Over the winter, the structure was replaced with a "temporary" hotel that endured to 2002. Many of the 1972 hotel buildings slated for removal were reused or t materials recycled to keep them from going into a landfill.