MONTANA – The National Park Service announced this week it had entered into a new contract with Belton Chalets, Inc, the company that currently provides services at Glacier National Park’s iconic backcountry chalets.
The new contract was awarded on Jan. 1 and will cover a term of 10 years. As Belton Chalets held the previous contract, agency officials said in a press release that the public is not expected to experience any interruptions in service.
“Belton Chalets, Inc. has provided park visitors with exceptional and unique services at Granite Park and Sperry chalets for years,” Dave Roemer, Glacier Park superintendent, said in a statement. “We know that their passion for the chalets and their experience will serve the public and the park well.”
Granite Park Chalet and Sperry Chalet are two iconic backcountry lodges in Glacier, remnants of what used to be a system of nine Swiss-style chalets connected by trails built by the Great Northern Railroad.
The other chalets were destroyed by natural disasters or by park officials.
(Belton Chalet, a separate lodge outside of the park in West Glacier, is operated by a different concessioner.)
In 2017, a fire burning up the Sprague Creek Valley torched Sperry Chalet and gutted the 104-year-old dormitory. It was rebuilt over two years — a $12 million reconstruction effort that was supported by all three members of Montana’s then-congressional delegation, and former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a native of nearby Whitefish, helping make it a national priority.
Belton Chalets, Inc has a long history stewarding the park’s backcountry chalets. The family-run company operated the chalets from 1954-1992, Granite Park Chalet from 1996-97, Sperry Chalet 1999-2004 and both chalets again since 2005, according to the NPS.
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
