Mondeaux lodge renovation work to begin this spring

Work to be completed this year, planned reopening for 2021 camping season

Work on long-awaited renovations to the Mondeaux Lodge are scheduled to begin this spring as well as upgrades to the Chippewa Campground in western Taylor County.

The lodge has been closed since fall 2016 when the former operator, Steve Kalmon, retired.

The lodge was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and includes a restaurant building, caretaker’s residence and garage. This aging facility was starting to show significant signs of deterioration to the foundation and upon further investigation, the Forest Service confirmed that water was infiltrating the building’s crawl space and compromising the integrity of the entire structure. Starting in 2017, steps were taken to expose the foundation and stop runoff from further deteriorating its structural integrity. At the same time, efforts were placed on finding a permanent solution to repair facilities while maintaining historical integrity.

A multi-phase project was undertaken to secure the needed funding for the work and to complete it.

Last year, the USDA Forest Service announced that a bid had been awarded for the renovation work. And on Tuesday announced that renovations would begin this summer with the lodge set to reopen in 2021.

According to Forest Service representatives, starting this spring, contractors will continue reconstruction on the Chippewa Campgrounds as well as renovations to the Mondeaux Dam Lodge. These are part of the Forest Service’s Recreational Facility Strategy (RFS) implementation.

In May 2019, the RFS was completed outlying a 5-Year Program of Work. Implementation of the strategy is intended to reduce operation and maintenance costs while maximizing public benefits. A combination of improvements and deinvestments will help create a more sustainable program into the future. “These changes will allow us to better operate and maintain our recreation areas to standard, providing a positive user experience. We believe the improvements identified in the RFS will increase visitor use and positively affect local businesses and the tourism economy of our local rural communities” said Paul Strong, forest supervisor.

In the first year of implementation, the forest was able to award multiple contracts to begin construction on:

• Mondeaux Dam Lodge Renovations: Investments include renovations of the lodge, quarters, garage, day use site and glacial spring. Construction is expected to be completed in 2020, with potential to re-open the lodge in 2021. This is a concessionaire run facility that will include a competitive bidding process for the next operator.

• Chippewa Campground electric and paving: Investments include re-pav- ing of facility roads and electric hook-up installation on a number of individual campsites. Construction is expected to be completed early in summer of 2020. A portion of the facility may open on a firstcome, first-serve basis prior to completion of construction.

Moving into 2020 will mark year two of the RFS implementation and will highlight the following investments:

• Installation of Volunteer Campsite Host hookups at 10 campgrounds to include electric, water and sewer depending on specific host site. The Forest’s Recreation program relies heavily on a variety of volunteers to better meet visitor expectations and demands. Investing in host campsite hookups will aid the forest in recruitment, but more importantly in the retention of host, to help sustain the volunteer program.

The campgrounds fall under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, enabling the forest to keep the fees collected and reinvest in the maintenance and operation of those campgrounds. The fees collected at these campgrounds over the past years have helped make these improvements possible.