Mount Rainier and National Park Service officials are preparing a call for bids to run the park’s concession operations.
Park superintendent Randy King was in San Francisco, along with concession management analyst Mary Wysong, to meet with other officials to go over the prospectus and the timeline for the process.
He said he expects the document to go out this summer. That would allow interested companies the time to visit the park and view the existing concession operations.
Mount Rainier Guest Services is the current concessionaire, running lodging operations at Paradise Inn and National Park Inn, as well as food service, gift shops and the general store at Longmire.
Guest Services’ current contract to run the concession operations at the park was awarded in 1987. The current contract was set to expire Dec. 31, but has been extended to Dec. 31, 2013.
The park opted to extend the contract without seeking competitive bids to avoid any interruption of services as bids are sought and the new contract is finalized.
While the contract is typically for 10 years, King said there is talk of extending the length because of work expected to be done on the Paradise Inn Annex during the upcoming contract. The annex needs to undergo a similar seismic retrofit that closed the inn for two seasons in 1996.
PARK FRIENDS GROUP
A new community-based nonprofit association has been created to support Anderson Lake State Park in Chimacum.
The Friends of Anderson Lake State Park is seeking members to help support the natural, recreational and cultural resources of the park. The group’s mission is “to protect, maintain and enhance the natural resource and recreation area on the Quimper Peninsula through fund-raising efforts, gift contributions, grants and volunteer support,” said a news release.
Those interested in joining the group and volunteering their time to support the park may contact chairman Bill Craighead at 360-301-5545 or craig@olympus.net or park liaison Aaron Terada at 360-385-1259 or Aaron.Terada@parks. wa.gov.
The park is a remote, day-use park surrounded by 410 wooded wetland acres, sloping down to the 70-acre Anderson Lake. The lake sits among a cedar, fir and alder forest mixed with freshwater marshes.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
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