The
construction of Jackson Lake Lodge was a
major undertaking that
resulted not only in the Central Lodge
and its surrounding guest
cottages, but also in employee housing
and a recreation center, new
roads, a corral, a post-office, and a
service station. Additionally,
all water, sewer, and electrical power
had to be newly installed, as
the old Jackson Lake Lodge and other
nearby tourist operations were too
small to warrant their own services. |
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The
National Park Service was responsible
for providing water, sewer, and electrical,
while the general
contractor,
Morrison-Knudsen, directed the construction of
all of the buildings.
Jackson
Lake Lodge was one of the smaller projects
that Morrison-Knudsen worked
on, as
they were primarily known for large-scale work
such as Three Mile Falls
Dam in
Oregon, the Hoover Dam, and the Interstate
Highway System. No doubt,
their involvement gave the company great
familarity in working
with concrete, the primary building material
of the Central Lodge.
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A
view during construction from on top of
the
main lodge looking east over the guest
lodges being built. The large
building in the back
of the lot to the right is the original
Jackson Lake Lodge still
standing. (image source:
Jackson Hole
Historical Society) |
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The
Central Lodge, guest cottages,
and employee housing were constructed between
May 25, 1953 and the
Lodge’s
dedication on June 11, 1955. Site clearing and
excavation were the
first steps
in preparing the site. Soil tests performed on
Moose Hill, where the
Central
Lodge would be located, resulted in the
discovery of volcanic ash. This
meant
that concrete-filled piles had to be placed
throughout the hilltop in
order to
properly support the steel and concrete building
to be constructed
above. A
concrete batch plant was built onsite to produce
all of the concrete
for the
project, and several acres of wood were used to
construct both formwork
and
buildings. All of the buildings besides the
Central Lodge were of
timber frame
construction. |
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Above:
The
cement plant on site during
construction. The view is looking
southwest with the Employee Dining Room
to the left side of the image (image
source:
Jackson Hole Historical Society) |
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Right:
This detail of the exterior concrete
shows
Shadowood as it looks today. The varying
widths of the plywood boards
used to leave the woodgrain impression
can be seen spanning one of the
panels. The original finish was acid
stained in three layers of bark
colors that simulated a weathered wood
finish. |
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Right:1950s
advertisement for Kemiko acid stains
featuring Jackson Lake Lodge |
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An
early rendering of the proposed
Jackson
Lake Lodge hotel and conference center
complex.
(image source: Rockefeller
Archives) |
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Having
a batch plant onsite meant
that the concrete for the Central Lodge could
be controlled very
carefully and
transported to wherever it was needed within a
short period of time.
The entire
building was cast-in-place, which facilitated
the creation of the
Shadowood
exterior finish. Strips of sand-blasted
plywood were placed within the
formwork
as a lining material. When the concrete was
poured, its
exterior surface hardened with the impression
of the woodgrain. After
the
concrete had cured, the architect, Gilbert
Stanley Underwood, directed
the
application of three layers of acid stains in
bark colors to simulate
the
appearance of wood. Acid stains are a solution
of metallic salts,
hydrochloric
acid, and water. The color is created through
a reaction between the
metallic
salts and the calcium hydroxide in the surface
of the concrete,
resulting in an
integral, translucent finish. Acid stains have
been used since the
early 20th
century to color concrete. Underwood used
them throughout his
career, most
notably at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite
National Park, and at Sun
Valley
Lodge in Idaho. His novel use of acide ctained
cast-in-place concrete
at Jackson Lake Lodge as 'Shadowood' signified
a throughly new and
modern expression for accommodations in the
National Park
Services.
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This
photograph of the construction of the
Central Lodge illustrates the
enormous amount of formwork and
scaffolding required to construct such
a large building. A batch plant was
assembled onsite to produce the
concrete, which was then transported
to the casting location in buckets
suspended from cranes. (image
source:
Jackson Hole Historical Society)
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The
original Shadowood finish has
remained in fairly good condition over the last
60 years. The original
acid
stain was covered only recently, when the entire
Lodge was re-finished
with a
new coat of stain in a reddish-brown color,
circa 2000. Areas of the
original concrete finish before re-coating were
discovered in
an
enclosed space above the Blue Heron Bar, which
was constructed in 1988.
The durability and complex appearance of these
orginal finishes argues
for their restoration. |
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