Historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite to close for two months for earthquake repairs

Yosemite National Park’s iconic Ahwahnee, arguably the most famous hotel in the US national park system, will be closed for two months to all visitors starting in January for a major seismic update.

The hotel, located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, will be closed in 2023 from January 2 to March 2 during the $31.6 million construction project. The park was not accepting reservations at the time, due to the construction schedule.

“Ahwahnee is the jewel in the national park inn’s crown,” said Cecily Muldoon, Yosemite National Park manager. “This much-needed work will ensure that Ahvah is earthquake-safe for current and future generations of Yosemite visitors.”

Featuring towering ceilings, wooden beams, and massive stone fireplaces, the luxury hotel was built in 1927 and offers stunning views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Glacier Point.

For the past 95 years, its guest list has been filled with famous people, from heads of state like Queen Elizabeth, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and the Shah of Iran, to legendary movie stars like Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo and most recently Brad Pitt and Robert Redford.

But park officials have known for years that the building does not comply with modern seismic safety laws.

Concerns about the hotel’s safety were highlighted in 2002. That year, the National Park Service paid URS Consulting, a San Francisco company, to complete a 250-page report looking at the hotel’s structural integrity in the earthquake.

That document said the hotel’s plaster ceilings would collapse, walls would tangle and the ground under the hotel made up of loose, often wet, sandy soil, which could seep in the type of earthquake with a 10 percent potential of every 50 years.

It concluded that “due to local structural failures, there is potential for loss of human life”.

The report recommended: a seismic modification of the hotel’s foundation to inject concrete to form 620 columns extending 40 feet down; Build up to 75 new concrete walls, 1 foot thick to provide support; reconstruction of the ceiling and five massive stone columns in the dining room; Wooden trusses reinforced in the ceilings with steel tie rods.

Since then, park officials have requested federal funding, but they haven’t secured enough to complete major repairs.

Yosemite spokesman Scott Jediman said Tuesday that work early next year will not complete all of the necessary seismic repairs. He said more would have to be done in the coming years as funding became available.

“That’s not all we’re going to do,” he said. “But it’s the most urgent thing.”

Funding for the seismic work coming in January comes from the Great American Outdoors Act, a bill that provided $9.5 billion for backlog conservation work on national parks and other federal lands. It passed in 2020 with large Democratic and Republican majorities in Congress, and was signed by former President Trump.

Work includes cementing the building’s chimneys and bearing walls, anchoring stone veneer, and installing structural trusses, among other upgrades in high-use visitor areas. The project will also replace the large glass windows in the dining room, solarium and other public spaces. It will include an updated heating and air conditioning system and reinforcements for the fireplaces in the grand hall.

It will also include the renovation of the hotel’s kitchen that has already begun.

When the work is complete, Gedman said, visitors likely won’t be able to tell the difference. The 123-room building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is subject to strict history preservation rules.

Staying in Ahwahnee isn’t cheap. A room with a standard king bed is currently $518 per night. The hotel, which was originally constructed with more than 5,000 tons of stone, 1,000 tons of steel, and 30,000 feet of wood, receives about 100,000 visitors a year and 300,000 people who eat in its restaurants or visit its bar and other features.

The park is no stranger to earthquakes.

In 1872, the Owens Valley earthquake, whose epicenter was in Lone Pine, about 100 miles away and estimated to have a magnitude of 7.4, violently shook the park. Back in 1980, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck near Mammoth Lakes, about 40 miles away, spooking tourists, causing rockslides that closed park roads and injured two hikers.

In 2019, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake near Ridgecrest, about 200 miles south of the park, shook Yosemite Valley for about 10 seconds, but did not cause rocks to fall or any damage was done.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/10/11/yosemites-historic-ahwahnee-hotel-to-close-for-two-months-for-earthquake-repairs/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos