PORT ANGELES — The fate of $80 million in funding to rebuild the Hurricane Ridge day lodge depends on if it can survive Congressional wrangling over a spending bill that must pass to avoid a government shutdown.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Seattle, tucked support for the Olympic National Park project into a 1,500-page, $100 billion bipartisan continuing resolution that would have kept the government funded through March 14.
That plan failed to pass the House on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors came out against it.
Subsequent attempts to craft a plan on which both Democrats and Republicans could agree were unsuccessful as of press time Friday.
The lodge, built in 1952, had been undergoing a $10.8 million rehabilitation when it burned to the ground May 7, 2023.
Hurricane Ridge is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Olympic Peninsula, helping attract 2.9 million visitors to the park in 2023 and making a $279 million impact on the local economy, according to the National Park Service.
Murray’s office said the Department of the Interior estimated about $77.5 million is needed for the Hurricane Ridge Lodge project.
That would fund construction of a visitor center, installation of utilities (drinking water, wastewater and electrical power), rebuilding communications infrastructure, creating interpretive waysides and supporting interim visitor services until the new facility can be built.
For comparison, the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center at Mount Rainier National Park that opened in 2009 took nine years and nearly $50 million to build.
Any construction project at Hurricane Ridge would face a number of challenges.
There is a narrow work window between the brutal winters and the busy summer tourist season.
A single road to the summit passes through three tunnels.
Murray’s office did not have a status update on the funding at press time. In an email, a National Park Service representative said the agency doesn’t comment on pending legislation.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsula dailynews.com.
