AttachmentO_SUCRVisitorCenterComplexHistoricStructuresReportAndPreservation.pdf

VISITOR CENTER COMPLEX MARCH 2015

HISTORIC STRUCTURE REPORT 142113

SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT

COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA

Prepared for

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

FLAGSTAFF AREA NATIONAL MONUMENTS

Prepared by

EnviroSystems Management, Inc.

Environmental Planning ∙ Regulatory Compliance

On behalf of

Michael Baker Jr., Inc.

Moon Township, Pennsylvania

SUCR - Attachment O March 2015

VISITOR CENTER COMPLEX

HISTORIC STRUCTURE REPORT

SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT

COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA

Prepared for

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

FLAGSTAFF AREA NATIONAL MONUMENTS

6400 North Highway 89 Flagstaff, Arizona 86004

(928) 526-1157

Prepared by

Lynn A. Neal, RPA/M.A. and Jesse W. Walka, General Contractor

Appended drawings compiled by Christine Markussen and Travis Ellison

ENVIROSYSTEMS MANAGEMENT, INC.

23 East Fine Avenue

Flagstaff, Arizona 86001

(928) 226-0236 www.esmaz.com

On behalf of

MICHAEL BAKER JR., INC.

Airside Business Park

100 Airside Drive Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108

(412) 269-6300

GSA Blanket Purchase Agreement No. BPA P11PA60573 and Delivery Order No. P14PB00401 Subcontract Delivery Order No. 32409-0002 & Service Order No. 142113

EnviroSystems Management Project and Report No. 1767-14/HSR

MARCH 2015

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures .................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................iv

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. v Project Team ...........................................................................................................................vi Administrative Data .............................................................................................................. vii

PART 1. DEVELOPMENT HISTORY by Lynn A. Neal

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Mission 66 Cecil Doty and Mission 66 Architecture Evaluation of Significance

CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND USE

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Character-Defining Features/Attributes Evaluation of Integrity Condition Assessment

PART 2. TREATMENT AND USE by Lynn A. Neal and Jesse W. Walka

ULTIMATE TREATMENT AND USE

REQUIREMENTS FOR TREATMENT

Structural Recommendations Building Systems Recommendations Code Recommendations

ALTERNATIVES FOR TREATMENT

PART 3. SPECIFIC MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND PLUMB ING

OBSERVATIONS AND MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDATIONS

by Lynn A. Neal and Jesse W. Walka

INTRODUCTION AND REPORT LAYOUT

SYSTEMS REVIEWS

Electrical Cabling Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gas Water Wastewater Stormwater Roof Mechanical/Electrical Components Installed Equipment Light Levels

REFERENCES

iii

APPENDIX A—SUCR VISITOR CENTER COMPLEX ARCHIVAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX B—RELEVANT HISTORICAL DRAWINGS

APPENDIX C—HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER BY

STRUCTURE

APPENDIX D—EXISTING CONDITIONS DRAWINGS

APPENDIX E—EXISTING CONDITIONS PHOTOGRAPHS

APPENDIX F—NPS LIST OF CLASSIFIED STRUCTURES FORMS FOR SUCR VCC

APPENDIX G—SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR’S STANDARDS FOR PRESERVATION

List of Figures

1a. Location of VCC facilities within monument's administrative/residential area 1b. Sunset Crater Visitor Center Complex showing contributing and some of the non-contributing resources

2. Visitor Center northeast/front elevation

3. Visitor Center front entrance

4. Visitor Center southwest/rear elevation

5. Visitor Center exhibit room interior

6. Visitor Center northeast elevation and front view facing south-southwest

7. Ceiling tiles in Visitor Center

8. Visitor Center southeast elevation

9. Maintenance Shop/Equipment Storage Building southeast/front elevation

10. Maintenance Shop/Equipment Storage Building southwest/rear elevation

11. Maintenance Yard, northeast end of yard with roofed storage area in east corner

12. Maintenance Yard, southwest end with roofed carport in south corner and small roofed area in west corner

13. Apartment Building northeast/rear elevation facing southwest

14. Apartment Building northeast/rear elevation facing west

15. Apartment Building southwest/front elevation facing northeast

16. Apartment Building southwest/front elevation facing east-northeast

17. Water Tower facing east (with new pump house)

18. Old Pump House north elevation

19. Old Pump House south and east elevations

20. Visitor Center and Equipment Storage Building water table walls

21. Maintenance Shop ceiling/roof construction

22. Apartment 18A roofing exposed in attic

23. Curbed sidewalk linking the Apartment Building and Maintenance Shop

24. Apartment 18B bathroom window in northeast wall

25. Apartment 18B bathroom door handle 26 Maintenance Shop, electric service panels on southwest elevation

27. Maintenance Shop, panels detail from southwest elevation

28. Visitor Center Boiler Room Panel A

29. Visitor Center Boiler Room Subpanel 1

30. WNPA Storage room subpanel

31. Maintenance Shop subpanel

32. Conference Room, loose plastic conduit in room’s north corner

33. Conference Room, loose outlet on southeast wall

34. Visitor Services office, exposed Romex wiring at the ceiling line in south corner iv

35. Apartment Laundry Room subpanel

36. Apartment building, example of exterior lighting on northeast elevation

37. Apartment 18B bathroom vanity light fixture

38. Apartment 18A bathroom vanity light fixture

39. Apartment Laundry Room heat-taped waterlines in northwest closet (upper portion)

40. Apartment Laundry Room heat-taped waterlines in northwest closet (lower portion)

41. Boiler Room metered regulator

42. Shop/Equipment Building metered regulator

43. Buried LP tanks at southeast side of maintenance area

44. Shop flexible LP hose recommended for replacement

45. Laundry Room water heater needing sediment trap

46. Apartment 18B water shutoff

47. Apartment Laundry Room corroded water supply valve/pipe

48. Visitor Center northwest elevation, sewer system and water meter accesses, waste line cleanout

49. Apartment 18B Sierra woodstove in living room, northwest wall

List of Tables

1. Installed Cables for Visitor Center

2. Installed Cables for Equipment Storage Building/Maintenance Shop

3. Installed Cables for Apartment Building

4. Installed Equipment List for Visitor Center

5. Installed Equipment List for Equipment Storage Building/Maintenance Shop

6. Installed Equipment List for Apartment Building

7. Installed Equipment List for Pump House v

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Executive Summary

The 3,040-acre Sunset Crater National Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation by Herbert Hoover on May 26, 1930. On November 16, 1990 the monument’s name was changed to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument (SUCR). The entire monument is encompassed by the Coconino National Forest. The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District (Visitor Center Complex or VCC), the subject of this document, is located 12 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona just east of Highway 89 on the Sunset Crater–Wupatki Loop Road. The VCC sits on U.S. Forest Service land approximately ½ mile west of the monument boundary. The complex is surrounded by ponderosa forest and a cinder dune landscape.

The VCC has historic significance at the national level as an excellent example of a Mission 66 development that is exceptional among Mission 66 developments for three main reasons: 1) unlike most Mission 66 visitor centers, the VCC was located outside the monument to preserve the natural landscape around the park’s primary interpretive feature (the Sunset Crater cinder cone); 2) its original development was exclusively a Mission 66 design that did not build on any existing developments; and 3) the VCC was designed by Cecil Doty and represents an unusual design for this prominent National Park Service (NPS) architect. Buildings contributing to the historic significance of the VCC are one-story NPS Modern-style buildings clad in wood shingles with lava rock water table walls. Two of the buildings (the visitor center and maintenance garage/shop) have large glulam structural systems that form dramatic angled profiles. The VCC is comprised of six main properties that contribute to the historic significance of the Mission 66 complex and 13 non-contributing properties.

In keeping with the Mission 66 vision, Cecil Doty (and others) designed the administrative complex at SUCR to centralize visitor facilities and park operations. The visitor center (VC) serves as the only public building in the complex. The center welcomes park visitors from the front parking area while partially concealing other park facilities from the public. In addition to the visitor center building, Doty’s original design for the complex included two other one-story buildings—a maintenance garage with a carport-style equipment storage area and a two-unit apartment building.

A ‘fence’ built of tubular steel and lumber framing with cedar shingle siding atop a lava rock wall formed wing walls extending from the visitor center and maintenance garage to make a rectangular enclosure around an employee parking area. In elevation the visitor center, maintenance yard, maintenance shop, and storage building appear as one unit forming a compound. Immediately adjacent to this compound is an apartment building that is also part of the VCC. Taken altogether, the complex includes the visitor center building, public parking area around the VC, maintenance and storage building and associated compound, apartment building, and to the north the water tower and old pump house. These buildings and structures were designed and constructed at nearly the same time by the same architect and are by and large located adjacent to each other.

Although the SUCR Visitor Center Complex was designed around existing roads, it represents the first true construction episode in the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument administrative area.

Visitors enter the public area by means of a parking area that runs along the monument roadway.

The visitor is then greeted by the visitor center’s terraced entryway set in front of the visitor center exhibit room, with its distinctive open floor plan. Other facilities, such as offices, maintenance areas, and residential areas, are positioned behind the public area so that they are effectively hidden from public view. Likewise, inconspicuous cinder-covered roads leading to these support facilities vi are masked by tree cover and the public areas in the forefront of the visitor experience. Therefore, the design and circulation of the VCC gives the illusion of a landscape with only minimal development, creating a greater sense of harmony with the natural setting.

The six primary contributing facilities making up the Visitor Center Complex Historic District retain much of their original integrity, in particular exteriorly. The most visually conspicuous and compatible building material tying the buildings together as a unit are the cedar (shake) shingle siding and cedar roof shingles. Due to the significance of the National Register-contributing buildings, the treatment approach should be preservation, and all work should be guided by the preservation approach outlined in The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The ultimate use of the buildings should continue to be that of the original and current use of each (with the exception of the Old Pump House which has been converted from its original function to use as storage).

Project Team

Client

National Park Service Intermountain Region 12795 W. Alameda Parkway Lakewood, Colorado 80228 Mr. Jay Boisseau, Regional Environmental Director

Ms. Tammy Gallegos, Contracting Officer

Flagstaff Area National Monuments 6400 North Highway 89 Flagstaff, Arizona 86004 Primary Contact: Joshua J. Kleinman, Planning and Compliance Program Manager

Gwenn Gallenstein, Museum Curator for Flagstaff Area National Monuments, also lent her expertise and much assistance in acquiring archival documents relevant to the history of the Visitor Center Complex Historic District facilities.

Consultants

Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (Baker) Airside Business Park 100 Airside Drive Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 Gary R. Case, Project Manager; Joseph E. Rozum, NPS Client Manager GSA Blanket Purchase Agreement No. BPA P11PA60573, Delivery Order No. P14PB00401

EnviroSystems Management, Inc. (EnviroSystems) 23 East Fine Avenue Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 Lynn A. Neal, Cultural Resources Program Director/Sr. Project Manager

Comb Ridge Custom Builders 3041 Shonto Trail Flagstaff, Arizona 86005 Jesse Walka, Owner and General Contractor for Building Construction vii

Administrative Data

Building Information

Historic Names: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District Common Names: SUCR Visitor Center Complex, Sunset Complex, VC Complex, VCC Park Structure Nos.: Visitor Center building (No. 16/20) and public parking area

Maintenance Garage/Shop and Equipment Storage Building (No. 27) and fenced/walled employee parking area compound

Apartment Building (No. 18) Water Tower Old Pump House Location: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Coconino County, Arizona Sunset Crater West, AZ (1966, photorevised 1983), USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle T23N, R08E, Section 21

The historic district is situated outside the park boundary to the west, 12 miles north of Flagstaff, AZ via Highway 89, and 2 miles east on the Sunset Crater–Wupatki Loop Road.

Construction Date: 1965-1967 for contributing properties; 1978-2001+ for non-contributors Significance Period: 1965-1967 Historic Use: Varied depending on the building Current Use: Remains the same for all but the Old Pump House which currently serves as a storage shed.

Previous Documentation and Studies

In preparation of this Historic Structure Report (HSR), EnviroSystems reviewed the following previously produced reports covering the contributing Visitor Center Complex, as well as other reports as noted in the Bibliography (Appendix A).

• Cultural Landscapes Inventory for Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District. Prepared by National Park Service in 2007.

• Consensus Determination of Eligibility for Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District. Prepared by National Park Service in 2004.

• Completion Report for Project 3:322:211704, Sunset Crater Visitor Center, including Lobby and Office Furnishings, Interpretive and Museum Equipment, Utility Equipment Storage Buildings, Seasonal Employee Quarters (One 2-Unit Apartment), LP Gas System, Residential Area. Submitted by Carl O. Walken, Chief of Administrative Management, NPS Southwest Region, 1970.

• Administrative Files and Maintenance Documentation including Individual Building Data for Visitor Center, 1969 and 1987; Cyclical Maintenance Program Report for Fiscal Years 1979-1988; Weekly Field Report for Rehabilitation of Visitor Center Entrance Walk, Terraces, and Related Improvements, CX-7029-3-0007, 1983; Facilities Maintenance, Construction, Completion, Proposed Projects, and Water Records, 1966-2001; SUCR Visitor Center Exhibits Renovation Documentation, 2004.

Methodology

The methodological approach for this Historic Structure Report for the Visitor Center Complex contributing facilities is based on available documentary research and site visits conducted in August, September, and December 2014. The building and facility exteriors, interiors, and site areas viii were photographed and surveyed during fieldwork; the buildings were measured and assessed for exterior and interior conditions. Building features and materials were inspected for defects such as loss, erosion, cracks, rot, detachment, staining, and inappropriate or failing repairs. Digital photographs were taken of typical conditions and potential problem areas.

The treatment recommendations developed for the VCC facilities were derived from the evaluation of existing conditions, taking into account the historical development and use of each building/structure. The recommendations were devised based on contemporary architectural conservation practices and in accordance with The Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. More specific information about the preservation and maintenance of the building materials will be developed in the accompanying Historic Structure Preservation Guide (HSPG) for the VCC contributing properties.

Cultural Resource Data

The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) with Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) concurrence occurring on February 6, 2004. The historic district serves as the primary visitor contact area, park administrative center, maintenance area, and residential housing zone for the monument. The VCC is comprised of Mission 66-era properties designed by Architect Cecil Doty in 1965. Construction of the Mission 66 development was completed by the Fall of 1967. The VCC has significance under National Register Criterion A in the areas of Community Planning and Development (park), Conservation, Entertainment/Recreation, and Politics/Government. It is also important for its association with the Mission 66 program, which represented a significant change in NPS planning, management, and architecture. The VCC also meets National Register Criterion C for its importance in the areas of architecture and community planning and development, and as an excellent example of the work of a master—NPS Architect Cecil Doty. Although the VCC is less than 50 years old (and was when it was evaluated to the National Register), it is eligible under Criterion Consideration G as an exceptional example of NPS Mission 66 planning and Park Service Modern architecture in Arizona.

As described in this document, the period of significance for the VCC extends from the properties original design and construction dates from 1965 to 1967, and the associated historic context is the NPS Modern architectural style and Mission 66 developments throughout the National Park Service, 1945-1972.

PART 1 — DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Lynn A. Neal

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Sunset Crater National Monument was established by President Herbert Hoover on May 26, 1930 to protect its geologic formations. In 1990 the name was changed to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It occupies 3,040 acres surrounded by Coconino National Forest.

The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District is located 12 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona east of Highway 89 on the Sunset Crater-Wupatki Loop Road or Forest Road (FR) 545 (Figure 1a). The Visitor Center Complex sits on U.S. Forest Service land ½ mile west of the monument boundary. The complex is surrounded by ponderosa forest and cinder dune landscape. The northern boundary of the VCC begins at the edge of Forest Road 545 and the visitor center parking lot. The eastern boundary of the complex is defined by the administrative road system that leads to the employee parking area, housing area, and water tower. The western boundary of the complex is defined by the western wall of the visitor center, western wall of the maintenance area, western portion of the housing area loop road, and western edge of the administrative road (including the pump house) that runs back to the water tower. The southern boundary of the complex is defined by the southern portion of the loop road that runs through the housing area and the southern edge of the water tower (Figure 1b).

Planning for the Sunset Crater Visitor Center was initiated in 1953 when 612 acres were set aside, under a Cooperative Agreement with the Coconino National Forest, for development of the administrative site and road access. In 1956 the Sunset Crater Mission 66 prospectus called for Sunset Crater to be the headquarters for both Wupatki and Sunset Crater National Monuments, and in 1957 a headquarters development, including a visitor center, maintenance yard, shop, and employee quarters, was planned for a site at the intersection of Highway 89 and the entrance road to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. However, a reliable and affordable water source could not be located at the proposed Highway 89 site. On May 8, 1959, NPS Regional Director Leo Diederich decided that Walnut Canyon National Monument would serve as the headquarters for the two monuments. Consequently the Sunset Crater plans were canceled. By the spring of 1963, plans changed again. It was decided at the regional office to place the visitor center at a site on the north side of the parking area at the base of the Sunset Crater cinder cone within the monument. The location of employee residences and the maintenance facility was not mentioned. However, The General Development and Interpretation Plan Wupatki-Sunset Crater, revised October 1963, documents the final location of the Sunset Crater Visitor Center at its present site—a return to a decision made in 1961 to place the visitor center on a flat bench in Section 21 on the Coconino National Forest. The Cooperative Agreement between the Forest Service and National Park Service setting aside 612 acres for the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument administrative development was renegotiated.

FR 545/Loop Rd

Bonito Campground

Visitor Center

Modified Carport

Maintenance Garage

Parking Area

Two-Unit Apartments

Old Pump House

Water Tower

To US 89

Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community

SUCR VCC HD

Historic Structure Report

Figure 1a. Location of VCC facilities within monument's administrative/residential area.

0 50 100 Meters

0 150 300 Feet Sunset Crater Volcano

National Monument

Project Area

US 89

FR 545/Loop Rd 1:3,000 some of the non-contributing resources.

Figure 1. Sunset Crater Visitor Center Complex showing contributing and

On September 9, 1964, Superintendent Mahan prepared the Project Construction Proposal for the Sunset Crater Visitor Center for an estimated $79,100.00. Based on the Interim Master Plan and Developed Area Plan, NPS Architect Cecil Doty prepared the preliminary design for the Sunset Complex in the Spring of 1965. No record exists that Doty visited Sunset Crater. However, he did visit Wupatki National Monument in 1961 in preparation for construction of the Wupatki Visitor Center. Doty most likely passed through Sunset Crater on his way to Wupatki. At the time of his 1961 visit, Wupatki was identified as the headquarters for the two monuments and Sunset Crater as a small district headquarters.

In November 1966 a new memorandum of understanding was signed that permitted the National Park Service to “construct and maintain an administrative headquarters (including a visitor center) on 16 acres of land” near the monument. Four days after the Park Service finalized the location of the visitor center, Coconino National Forest representatives selected an area across the entrance road to construct the Bonito Campground.

In 1966, Doty transferred from the Western Office of Design and Construction to the Eastern Office of the same name, and in May of that year, Architect Robert V. Simmonds of the San Francisco Planning and Service Center (formerly WODC) prepared the working drawings for the VCC’s visitor center building and maintenance shop/storage building based on Doty’s preliminary design.

Although no Interpretive Prospectus was prepared at this time, soft lighting from overhead windows on the north wall was planned (rather than direct sunlight) so that movies could be used in interpretation. An outdoor terrace was included so that views of Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Peaks could be enjoyed outside the visitor center. In late June 1966 Notice of Award to the Sanders Construction Company of Farmington, New Mexico was signed for the construction of the visitor center and related buildings.

Indecision about where to locate the visitor center turned into controversy following its construction. NPS Director George Hartzog visited Sunset Crater National Monument in the Fall of 1967. He was so disturbed at the location of the visitor center that he commissioned a special study to determine why the visitor center was “so located and so oriented that a large mining scar... is plainly visible from the front terrace,” and that “a Forest Service campground is located directly across the road from the visitor center” (Husted 1968).

In response to the findings and recommendations of the commissioned Special Study of the Sunset Crater Visitor Center (Husted 1968), NPS Southwest Regional Director Frank Kowski wrote to NPS Director Hartzog:

Our final determination as to location of the headquarters area was based on two premises:

One, that such a development could not be located within the Monument without detriment to the scenic and scientific features, and two the location chosen was based on available views of Sunset Crater and San Francisco Peaks. . . It has been our intention to interpret the Crater and its relation to the San Francisco Mountains by views from the terrace in front of the structure.

We had always intended to undertake vista clearing in both directions and still plan to do so if the Forest Service will allow it.

The Sunset Crater Volcano Visitor Center building has not been structurally altered since its original construction. Noteworthy changes to the building since its original construction will be discussed later in this document.

Mission 66

(This section is taken in part from the 2007 Cultural Landscapes Study for the VCC Historic District and the 2004 Consensus Determination of Eligibility for the District.) Designed in 1965 and constructed between 1966 and 1967, the Visitor Center Complex at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, which includes the park’s visitor center, maintenance shop, equipment building/yard, and apartment building, has historic significance at the national level as an excellent representation of National Park Service Mission 66 planning and design. The largest multi-year construction event in NPS history, Mission 66 was a major effort by the NPS to upgrade the national parks to meet escalating demands in the post-World War II period, when the number of visitors to the parks dramatically increased. Initiated in 1956, the goal of the program was to substantially improve the parks by 1966, hence the name “Mission 66”. Although Mission 66 officially extended for a decade from 1956-1966, the NPS has determined a 1945-1972 period of significance, a date range that covers the important design precedents of Mission 66 as well as later Mission 66 influenced resources (Allaback 2000). The Sunset VCC period of significance ranges from 1965 to 1967.

In 1949, NPS Director Newton Drury described the parks as “victims of war.” “Neglected since the New Deal-era improvements of the 1930s,” observes historian Allaback (2000), “the national parks were in desperate need of funds for basic maintenance, not to mention protection from an increasing number of visitors.” In 1931, 3.5 million people visited the national parks; by 1948 that number had increased to almost 30 million. But, Allaback notes, “park facilities remained essentially as they were before the war” (Allaback 2000). Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument alone experienced an increase in visitation from 2,500 people in 1934 to 63,200 people in 1958.

Contributing to the growth in the number of visitors after World War II was the post-war economic boom and the ability of more and more Americans to buy personal automobiles, enabling them to visit the nation’s treasures. In response, the National Park Service needed new facilities to accommodate the crowds, and it needed those facilities designed in a way that would best protect the parks from resource damage.

National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth first conceptualized the idea of modernizing parks through a massive, multi-year redevelopment program in February 1955. Wirth requested a decade of funding rather than the traditional year-by-year funding requests, “thereby ensuring money for building projects that might last many years” (Allaback 2000). As envisioned by Wirth, “Mission 66 would allow the Park Service to repair and build roads, bridges and trails, hire additional employees, construct new facilities ranging from campsites to administration buildings, improve employee housing, and obtain land for future parks . . . to elevate the parks to modern standards of comfort and efficiency, as well as an attempt to conserve natural resources” (Allaback 2000). On January 27, 1956, Wirth introduced the Mission 66 concept to President Dwight Eisenhower and his cabinet, where it received immediate approval. The program was officially presented to the American public the following month (Allaback 2000).

At the heart of the new Mission 66 program was the concept of a visitor center. The visitor center would act as a “one-stop” service unit equipped with an information desk, uniformed ranger, lobby exhibits, illustrated talks, museum, library, and restrooms. The center also provided space for administrative offices, which were removed from the public areas and often accessed through a separate entrance. This type of design was a major departure from the earlier NPS concept of decentralized “park village,” where different park functions were spread out in individual, rustic-style buildings. In an efficient and economic combination of services, the Mission 66 visitor center “brought these activities together in a single, large building intended to serve as a control point for what planners called ‘visitor flow,’ as well as a more efficient means of serving far larger numbers of visitors and cars in a more concentrated area” (Allaback 2000). Like a shopping center, the visitor center made it possible for people to park their cars at a central point, and from there have access to a range of services and attractions. To accomplish the wide-ranging goals of Mission 66, the NPS master planning process utilized teams with representatives from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, ecology, natural history resource management, archeology, history, and other fields. In 1956, an NPS outline titled Mission 66: To Provide Adequate Protection of the National Park System for Human Use proposed that 100 new visitor centers would be needed.

From an original request of $786 million, Mission 66 eventually cost almost a billion dollars during its 10-year span, nearly four times the budget of the previous 10 years (Wirth 1966). In addition to a new strategy for management, Mission 66 also resulted in a distinctive new type of NPS architecture that reflected new ideas of the times—a style Allaback (2000) says can be described as “Park Service Modern”. Modern architecture was the prevalent architectural style in the postwar period, and Mission 66 brought that design ethic to the national parks. Stripped of most ornamentation, modern architecture took advantage of new inexpensive materials and labor-saving techniques. The flexibility of modern architectural design also allowed for shapes and interior environments that could accommodate visitor flow, as well as offices and public spaces in the same building. By contrast, the rustic style that the NPS had used throughout the 1920s and 1930s was costly to build on a large scale and, aesthetically, would result in new natural surroundings because of their picturesque design and use of natural materials. Park Service Modern, notes Allaback, “reinterpreted the long-standing commitment to ‘harmonize’ architecture with park landscapes,” accomplishing the commitment in a different way than rustic architecture. Rather than being designed as picturesque elements of the landscape, Mission 66 buildings were meant to be unobtrusive with their low horizontal profiles. In the same way, Mission 66 visitor centers were often constructed of stone and textured concrete that reduced visual contrasts with the landscape (Allaback 2000).

Designed by NPS architect Cecil Doty, the Sunset Crater Visitor Center is true to the Mission 66/ NPS Modern style, blending modern materials in the International style with natural materials that harmonize the building with the surrounding landscape. Located west of the monument boundary on the Coconino National Forest, the building was positioned to offer views of the Sunset Crater cinder cone to the east and the San Francisco Peaks to the west– two important volcanic landscape features in the area. Original landscape designs included plans to remove trees in both directions to improve views of these features (Husted 1968), but these plans were never realized. The visitor center’s location outside the monument was designed to preserve the natural environment and scenery inside the monument—an objective park managers documented in the park’s Master Plan as early as 1948 (NPS 1948), and a central concern stated in NPS Director Wirth’s original vision statement for the Mission 66 program (NPS 1956).

At Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Mission 66 planners also addressed the inadequacy of the existing development. The monument had been established in 1930, but there had been little appropriation for development beyond a small visitor contact booth acquired from Lake Mead National Recreation Area and a trailer. For much of its pre-Mission 66 history, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument had been operated as a sub-unit of Wupatki National Monument.

Mission 66 meant a significant infusion of money into the park’s development. Under Mission 66, $1,071,500 was proposed in 1958 for physical improvements to Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki National Monuments. These improvements included $575,000 for scenic loop road improvements through the monuments, the Sunset visitor center, utilities, Lenox Crater Trail, interpretive shelter, boundary fence, picnic area, warehouse-shop building, and equipment storage building (Superintendent Russell Mahan 1958 correspondence to Chief of WODC). When it was completed in 1967, the Visitor Center Complex at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument was the park’s first visitor center. Prior to that time, visitors had obtained information primarily from a shared ranger position with Wupatki National Monument. The new visitor center also housed the park’s administrative operations, which previously had been located at Wupatki National Monument.

Cecil Doty and Mission 66 Architecture

The VCC was conceptualized by the NPS’s principal Mission 66 Architect, Cecil Doty, and reflects key elements of Mission 66 design including the architectural design and function of the building itself. However, the VC departs from the Mission 66 design philosophy that called for siting the visitor center near the park’s major resource, using terraces and window walls to provide significant views of natural features, and encouraging visitors to use adjacent amphitheaters, overlooks, and trails. As Allaback (2000) notes, “Doty designed two visitor centers with unusual programs in the final years of Mission 66 [Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Curecanti National Recreation Area]. The visitor center at Sunset Crater [is] located some distance from the crater itself, [it] is the simplest possible in terms of circulation and use. It is essentially one big room with offices on one end and restrooms on the other. No effort is made to obtain a view or direct the visitor outside.” Doty’s design and the final location of the visitor center have been questioned ever since its completion.

Nevertheless, in keeping with the Mission 66 vision, Cecil Doty designed the administrative complex at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to centralize visitor facilities and park operations. The visitor center serves as the only public building in the VCC. The VC welcomes park visitors from the front parking area, while partially concealing other park facilities from the public.

In addition to the visitor center building, Doty’s original design for the Sunset Complex included two other one-story buildings—a maintenance garage with a carport-style equipment storage area and a two-unit apartment building. A fence built of tubular steel and lumber framing with cedar shingle siding atop lava rock basal walls formed wing walls extending from the VC and maintenance garage to make a rectangular enclosure around an employee parking area. In elevation the VC, maintenance yard, and shop appear as one unit, forming a compound. Immediately adjacent to this compound is an apartment building that is also part of the VCC.

Although, the VCC was designed around existing roads, it represents the first true construction episode in the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument administrative area. Visitors enter the public area by means of a parking area that runs along the monument highway. The visitor is then greeted by the visitor center’s terraced entryway set in front of the visitor center exhibit room, with its distinctive open floor plan. Other facilities, such as offices, maintenance areas, and residential areas are positioned behind the public area so that they are effectively hidden from public view.

Likewise, inconspicuous cinder-covered roads leading to these support facilities are masked by tree cover and the public areas in the forefront of the visitor experience. Therefore, the design and circulation of the VCC gives the illusion of a landscape with only minimal development, creating a greater sense of “harmony” with the natural setting.

Cecil Doty was trained as an architect at Oklahoma A&M in the 1920s and worked for the National Park Service for almost his entire career. Doty began his work with the NPS in the 1930s and was indoctrinated into the “log‐and‐stone school of Park Service architecture” during the Depression

(Harrison 1985). Doty continued his work with the NPS in the postwar era, designing numerous buildings during the NPS Mission 66 effort (primary around 1965 at Sunset Crater). In addition to a modernization of the management strategy for NPS facilities, the Mission 66 program resulted in a new style of Parks architecture which has been described as Park Service Modern (National Park Service 2009). This abandonment of the Rustic style for a more modern aesthetic was embraced by Doty and is represented in his work at the VCC.

Architectural plans for the visitor center were drawn by Cecil Doty in March 1965 (Appendix B, Figure B3). Site plans for the VCC inclusive of the visitor center, maintenance shop and equipment building, apartment building, and maintenance yard were drafted in May-June 1965 (Figure B2), with one set credited to Treabess and Hunter (Figure B3). In 1966 NPS Architect Robert Simmonds, also in the Eastern Office of Design and Construction, picked up where Doty had left off. Additional visitor center elevations and plans were drafted in May 1966 by Treabess and Simmonds (Figure B4) and Doty, Hunter, and Simmonds (Figure B5). Hunter had drawn May 1965 plans of the equipment storage building/maintenance shop (Figure B9), and more detailed elevations and sections and a floor plan were done by Doty, Hunter, and Simmonds in May 1966 (Figures B6-8, B10). The equipment yard fencing steel framework elevations and details were done by Reppel Steel & Supply Co, Inc. in September 1966 (Figure B11). Finally, the two-unit apartment building was designed and drawn by Simmonds in November 1965 (Figure B12) and May 1966 (Figures B13-14). The water tower foundation and pit plan and erection diagram were done by W.

E. Caldwell Co. in October/November 1965 (Figures B15-16). Drawings of the pump house were created by Otake in January 1965 (Figures B17-18), and the pump house and pump box with water features detailed was done by Lee in January 1968 (Figure B19). Lastly, the VCC utility systems were drawn by Otake in June 1965 (Figure B20), LP gas installation was added to the systems by Treabass in May 1966 (Figure B21), and the utility systems as maintained were updated in January 1969 (Figure B22). All the described plans/drawings are housed within the monument’s archives at the Museum of Northern Arizona. From utility installation to completion of the visitor center, the complex construction began in 1965 and was completed in 1967. The primary buildings were constructed by Sanders Construction Company after contract award in late June 1966.

Evaluation of Significance

The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex has significance under National Register Criterion A in the areas of Community Planning and Development (park), Conservation, Entertainment/Recreation, and Politics/Government. It is also important for its association with the Mission 66 program, which represented a significant change in NPS planning, management, and architecture. Within the NPS system, Mission 66 was an over-arching program that resulted in the construction of new housing, maintenance areas, entrance stations, roads, parking lots, comfort stations, campgrounds and concessionaire buildings, as well as the design of a new NPS arrowhead and uniform. The most significant expression of Mission 66 philosophy, however, was the “visitor center”, a term coined by NPS planners to describe a property type that combined multiple visitor and administrative functions into one complex. Mission 66 historian Sarah Allaback has called the visitor center “the centerpiece of a new era in planning for visitor services in American national parks,” and a concept that greatly influenced the development of similar centers throughout state parks in the United States as well as national parks in the rest of the world (Allaback 2000).

The VCC also meets National Register Criterion C for its importance in the areas of architecture and community planning and development, and as an excellent example of the work of a master—

NPS Architect Cecil Doty. The Service’s primary Mission 66 architect, “Doty is the individual responsible for the consistency of design that is the Park Service Modern style, and was instrumental in developing a modern visitor center design that would fulfill the programmatic demands of Mission 66” (Allaback 2000). As Allaback notes, “Doty influenced nearly every visitor center built”. Although the VCC is less than 50 years old (and was when it was evaluated to the National Register), it is eligible under Criterion Consideration G as an exceptional example of NPS Mission 66 planning and Park Service Modern architecture in Arizona.

Overall, the Sunset VCC reflects several key elements of Mission 66 design. These include the advent of modern architecture into the parks, the use of terraces to provide significant views of natural features, the centralization of park services within one compound, a floor plan that segregates public areas from administrative areas, and the use of natural materials that reflect the surrounding landscape. The Sunset VCC does vary, however, from the majority of Doty designed visitor centers in several ways, namely the VC’s location away from the crater itself without significant effort made to obtain a view or to direct the visitor outside. Although the modern style of Mission 66 architecture had its critics, Historian Sarah Allaback notes, “Park Service Modern, as developed by Park Service designers during the Mission 66 era, became as influential in the history of American national and state park management as the Park Service Rustic style had been” (Allaback 2000).

In sum, the Sunset VCC is comprised of Mission 66-era properties designed by NPS Architect Cecil Doty in 1965, with construction of the Mission 66 development completed by the Fall of 1967. The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historic District was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places with Arizona State Historic Preservation Office concurrence occurring on February 6, 2004. The VCC has significance under National Register Criteria A and C and Criterion Consideration G. The historic district serves as the primary visitor contact area, park administrative center, maintenance area, and residential housing zone for the monument.

As described in this document, the period of significance for the VCC extends from the properties original design and construction dates of 1965 to 1967, and the associated historic context is the NPS Modern architectural style and Mission 66 developments throughout the National Park Service, 1945-1972.

Following is a list of the six (or eight if parking areas are broken out) contributing resources for the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex:

1. Visitor Center Building (No. 16/20) and public parking area (1967). An associated entryway terrace, walkways, a flagpole, lava rock planters, and landscaping have been replaced and do not retain their historic integrity.

2. Maintenance Shop/Equipment Storage Building (No. 27) immediately south of the northwest wall of the visitor center and associated fenced/walled employee parking area compound southeast of the maintenance building (1967)

3. Apartment Building (No. 18A/B) and associated walkways and yards (1967)

4. Administrative road system to the employee parking compound, water tower loop, and housing area loop (1965) (Not including as a part of this HSR, though considered to retain a high degree of its historic integrity and visual character. Informal, unpaved spur roads have been added to the administrative road system, and many have been subsequently closed.

Additions and alterations have been minor and ephemeral, and the road system still maintains the basic footprint of the original design.)

5. Water tower (1965)

6. Old pump house (1965)

Presented here is a list of 13 non-contributing resources in the immediate vicinity of the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Visitor Center Complex:

1. Residence Building No. 2 (1985 modular)

2. Detached garage associated with Residence Building No. 2 (1980s structure)

3. Residence Building No. 7 (1985 modular)

4. Detached garage associated with Residence Building No. 7 (1980s structure)

5. Residence Building No. 12 (1978 modular)

6. Residence area playground

7. Detached garage (1980s structure) associated with Residence 18A (Building 18)

8. Detached garage (1980s structure) associated with Residence 18B (Building 18)

9. New pump house (2001 structure)

10. WNPA shed (1980s structure)

11. Vehicle fuel tanks (1996 structures)

12. Hazardous materials storage building (mid-1990s structure)

13. Additional employee parking area to the southeast of the visitor center

CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND USE

Key dates pertaining to the development of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and in particular to the construction, alteration, and use of the Visitor Center Complex facilities are summarized below. The overall chronology is taken from the 2007 Cultural Landscapes Inventory for the Sunset Crater National Monument Visitor Center Historic District, and details were checked within several maintenance records on file in the monument’s archives.

1930 Established Sunset Crater National Monument by Presidential Proclamation (Herbert

Hoover) on May 26 1953 Established NPS Cooperative Agreement with the Coconino National Forest to set aside

612 acres for the development of an administration site and road access 1956–1966 Developed NPS Mission 66 Program period 1963 Determined final location of Sunset Crater visitor center at its present site in The General

Development and Interpretation Plan Wupatki-Sunset Crater, revised October 1963 1964 Developed Project Construction Proposal (for $79,100) 1965 Designed by Architect Cecil Doty—the Sunset Crater Visitor Center Complex 1965 Built Administrative Road System, Water Tower, and Old Pump House 1966 Established a new memorandum of understanding that permitted the National Park

Service to “construct and maintain an administrative headquarters (including a visitor center) on 16 acres of land” near the monument

1966–1967 Built by Sanders Construction Company, Farmington, New Mexico—the Complex including the visitor center building, public parking area, maintenance and storage building, and apartment building

1968 Completed “Special Study of the Sunset Crater Visitor Center” 1970–1979 Altered exposed tongue-and-groove ceiling of visitor center; covered with rigid insulation and ceiling tiles attached to furring strips in the late 1970s 1975 Added track lighting to the visitor center exhibit room sometime after 1975; tracks mounted directly to three of the four glulam ceiling beams 1978 Built Residence Building No. 12 (modular)

1980 Built in the early 1980s walls in the carport-style storage area to create office space, a lunchroom/conference room, and an enclosed storage room

1980 Built in the early 1980s three shed roofs in the parking area compound to provide carport-style equipment storage areas

1980–1989 Built detached garages for Residences Nos. 2, 7, 18A and 18B, WNPA shed, hazardous materials storage building

1980–1989 Added a small utility room measuring 3 × 4 feet to the northwest wall of the maintenance garage with a door on the southwest elevation

1983 Removed the visitor center front concrete walkway, terrace, and raised planting beds; replaced with brick walkways, terraces, and a wood planting bed

1983 Altered the pedestrian traffic flow from the public parking area to the visitor center 1985 Built Residence buildings Nos. 2 and 7 1990 Built in the early 1990s portions of the northwest wall of what was originally the carport area; altered to accommodate two sliding windows to provide natural light and ventilation to the maintenance offices (now Visitor Services & Resource Protection)

1995–1999 Added in the early 1990s another layer of insulation and tiles to the existing ceiling tiles in the visitor center

1995 Replaced visitor center roofing with composite shingles twice since…