C2 THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2021
OREGON TRAIL INTERPRETIVE CENTER
Renovations will close center for 2-plus years
BY JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Starting about a year from
now, people who visit Baker
County to learn about the Ore-
gon Trail will have to go some-
where other than the Interpre-
tive Center that has stood atop
Flagstaff Hill for almost three
decades.
But only temporarily.
The Bureau of Land Man-
agement (BLM), which owns
and operates the Center, is
planning a major renovation
of the building to make it more
energy efficient.
The Center, which has wel-
comed nearly 2.4 million vis-
itors since it opened on May
23, 1992, about 5 miles east
of Baker City, will be closed
during the approximately 2½-
year project, which will cost at
least $3 million, said Larisa Bo-
gardus, acting director for the
Center.
During the closure, the BLM
will have a temporary “Oregon
Trail Experience” in Baker City,
Bogardus said.
BLM officials are working
on plans for the temporary fa-
cility, including its location,
she said.
“It will absolutely be in
Baker City,” said Bogardus,
who is also the public affairs
officer for the BLM’s Vale Dis-
trict, which manages the In-
terpretive Center. “We’re very
cognizant of the economic role
of the Interpretive Center in
Baker County.”
Bogardus said the current
plan is to put the renovation
project out for bid in July or
August of this year.
Construction will start on
March 1, 2022. The Center will
likely be closed for at least a
couple of months before that
to allow workers to move arti-
facts, Bogardus said, and for a
couple additional months after
the renovations, to allow staff
to prepare the Center for re-
opening.
The impetus for the project,
by far the largest since the Cen-
ter opened, was a nationwide
survey comparing the energy
efficiency of BLM buildings,
Bogardus said.
That survey, which included
an inspection of the Inter-
pretive Center in May 2018,
earned the Center the “dubious
distinction” of being the agen-
cy’s least efficient building, she
said.
Among the findings is that
the Center’s “Energy Use In-
tensity” — a measure of its in-
efficiency — was 170 kilo-Brit-
ish Thermal Units per square
foot. The average for BLM fa-
cilities is 84, according to the
survey.
The Center, which operates
solely on electricity (natural
gas isn’t available on Flagstaff
Hill), runs up a monthly power
bill averaging about $1,000,
Bogardus said.
Its location contributes to
the Center’s energy gluttony.
The crest of the hill that
gives visitors a panoramic view
of the Baker Valley and the
Elkhorn Mountains also ex-
poses the Center to the sum-
mer sun and to year-round
winds that often gust above 25
mph.
“The siding takes a beating
up there,” Bogardus said.
She said today’s building
materials, including insulation,
are more effective at protecting
buildings from heat and win-
ter chill.
Heating and air-condition-
ing systems have also become
more efficient since 1992,
and all of the Center’s HVAC
equipment will be replaced
during the renovation project.
The work will be extensive.
The contractor will replace
the Center’s siding and roof, in
effect stripping the outside of
the building and installing all
new materials, Bogardus said.
Although the Center itself
Center visits
affected by the
pandemic
The Oregon Trail Interpre-
tive Center has been one of
Baker County’s top tourist
attractions since it opened
during Memorial Day week-
end in 1992.
The Center was especially
popular during its first six
years; its annual attendance
hasn’t reached 100,000 since
1997.
After welcoming 201,545
people in 1992 (despite be-
ing open for slightly more
than seven months), the
Center has its biggest year
in 1993, with 347,981 visi-
tors. That surge was no co-
incidence, as 1993 was the
150th anniversary of the first
large migration on the Ore-
gon Trail.
There were multiple spe-
cial events in Baker County
that year, including the an-
nual convention for the Or-
egon-California Trails Asso-
ciation. Attendance dipped
to 197,307 in 1994, and to
170,405 and 140,281 the
next two years.
Annual visitor numbers
haven’t fluctuated as much
in the past dozen years, rang-
ing between 60,231 in 2010
and 32,764 in 2013.
The yearly average be-
tween 2008-19 was 43,745.
Due to the pandemic,
which has forced the Cen-
ter to close from March 20
through June 17, and again
since Nov. 18, 2020, visitor
numbers dipped substan-
tially, to 11,462 in 2020.
Admission was down
even during the summer,
when the Center was open.
July’s total was 2,456,
compared with 7,291 for the
same month in 2019.
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald File
Exhibits in the grand hall at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center give visitors a sense of what emigrants experienced on the trail during the 19th century.
Lisa Britton/For the Baker City Herald
The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, on Flagstaff Hill about five miles east of Baker City, has welcomed more
than 2.3 million visitors since it opened in May 1992.
“It will absolutely be in Baker City. We’re
very cognizant of the economic role of the
Interpretive Center in Baker County.”
Larisa Bogardus, acting director for the Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center and public affairs officer for the BLM’s Vale District
will be closed, a portion of the
trail system on Flagstaff Hill,
including the Oregon Trail
ruts, will remain open.
Bogardus said BLM officials
are working on the details. The
upper sections of trail will be
closed for safety reasons, since
workers will be removing and
replacing large parts of the
building.
Although the extended clo-
sure of the Center and the need
to set up an alternate Oregon
Trail experience for visitors is a
daunting challenge, Bogardus
said the renovations will en-
sure the Center remains a ma-
jor attraction in Baker County
for decades to come.
“It’s very exciting to see the
agency make the commitment
to the longevity and efficiency
of the Interpretive Center,” she
said.
Bogardus said that about
30% of the money for the ren-
ovation will come from the
Great American Outdoors Act,
a bill that President Donald
Trump signed into law on Aug.
4, 2020.
That law includes up to $1.9
billion a year for five years for
maintenance on public lands,
including national parks and
national forests.
Shelly Cutler, executive di-
rector of the Baker County
Chamber of Commerce and
Visitors Center, said the Inter-
pretive Center is a vital part of
the county’s tourism industry.
She estimated that at least
70% of visitors include the
Center on their travel itinerary.
“People are fascinated with
the Oregon Trail and the Old
West,” Cutler said.
Although Cutler said the
Center’s extended closure will
have an effect on the county’s
tourism sector, she’s “thrilled”
that the BLM will operate a
temporary “satellite” visitor
center in Baker City.
She said that will help pre-
serve Baker County’s reputa-
tion as a destination for people
interested in the Oregon Trail.
Cutler said visitors, even
while the Interpretive Center
is closed, will be able to see
wagon ruts and explore trails
below Flagstaff Hill.
Timothy Bishop, the coun-
ty’s contracted tourism market-
ing director, said the Center’s
extended closure presents “sig-
nificant marketing challenges.”
Most notably, Bishop said,
the county, working with
Travel Oregon and other part-
ners, will have to figure out the
most effective way to ensure
We
hear
you.
that travelers understand that
although the Center on Flag-
staff Hill will be closed, the
BLM will have an alternate fa-
cility open, and that they can
experience the Oregon Trail
in other ways, such as hiking
to the wagon ruts below the
Center.
Bishop said he expects many
prospective visitors will be re-
ceptive to that marketing mes-
sage because, although the
Interpretive Center is sure to
be on their itinerary, they also
want a broader experience, and
Baker County can offer that
despite its biggest attraction
being temporarily closed.
He said he’s “super excited”
to work with Bogardus on
preparations for the closure
period.
“She is really passionate
about finding a way to make
sure the Center has a presence
in Baker City during that time,”
Bishop said.
The temporary closure also
creates a chance for the BLM
to work with other local enti-
ties, such as the Baker Heritage
Museum, to potentially display
some of the exhibits from the
Center. That could bring more
visitors to the county-owned
Museum, Bishop said.
More casual tourists pres-
ent another sort of challenge,
he said.
Bishop said some of those
travelers stop at the Inter-
pretive Center not as part of
a week-long itinerary, but
because they’re looking for
a place to stretch their legs
during a long freeway journey.
That category of traveler is
more likely, he said, to drive
past Baker County without
stopping once they learn the
Interpretive Center is closed.
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