The location of the septic leachfield serving the cafeteria figured prominently in an investigation of six caldera springs during the summer of 1987. The ensuing report connected high nitrate concentrations found in one of the springs to the leachfield and strongly suggested that the NPS consider alternative approaches for treating human waste on the rim. [124] The report also justified the phasing of planned construction in the supplement to the DCP. The connection of new and existing facilities to the Munson Valley waste water treatment plant was given top priority in the anticipated funding for a Rim Village redevelopment package. [125]
The draft supplement to the DCP was issued for public comment in October 1987. It listed four alternatives for redeveloping Rim Village. Common to all of the alternatives was removal of four comfort stations and the Community House, while the Kiser Studio and Sinnott Memorial were to be retained. The disposition of the lodge was the key to all of the alternatives; this ranged from complete rehabilitation in the first alternative to demolition in the fourth alternative.
Alternative I would provide for an 80 room Crater Lake Lodge to be open only in the summer, and would be included in a total Rim Village redevelopment package estimated at $25.5 million. Alternative II drew from the Kenkel and Frazier schematic study including a rehabilitated original lodge with restaurant and exhibit space, open only in summer. A new all year lodge with 90 rooms would occupy a site near the cafeteria. This lodge would be three stories with a winter viewing area. The site was chosen in the 1984 Fletcher, Finch, Farr, and Ayotte study. This package was estimated to cost $33.5 million. Alternative Ill was similar to Alternative II, but differed in that rustic lodging and dining would be provided in the Crater Lake Lodge in the summer while a new lodge would have 60 rooms. This package was estimated to cost $33.3 million. Alternative IV called for a new all- year lodge with 90 rooms in an estimated package to cost about $28 million. All four alternatives showed a separate interpretive center to be constructed near the site of what had been the cafeteria and in proximity to the new lodge. Several newspapers called for a fifth alternative that would have the old lodge rehabilitated for year-round accommodations. [126]
Public hearings were held on the supplement to the DCP in Klamath Falls, Medford, Roseburg, and Portland from January 25 to 28, 1988. The historic preservation community strongly favored Alternative I, while the NPS chose not to select a preferred alternative. During the hearings the NPS stressed that a final decision was not limited to the four alternatives. [127] This would allow Regional Director Charles Odegaard the latitude to combine elements from several alternatives for a final decision on the DCP once the public comment period closed February 5,1988.
Odegaard announced his decision on February 25. He agreed to a $35 million effort to fully renovate the Crater Lake Lodge to provide about 80 guest rooms in the summer, while a new 60 room lodge near the site of the cafeteria would provide year-round accommodations. [128] Odegaard used what was essentially the “combined option” of October 1986 regarding the old lodge and endorsed the idea of a new “multi-purpose” building that would combine the functions of the proposed interpretive center and a new lodge. The decision met an overwhelmingly favorable reaction in Oregon’s newspapers, largely because the decision had finally been made to retain the Crater Lake Lodge. [129]
The final supplement to the DCP appeared in May 1988. It provided for 140 lodging units at Rim Village and a total of 220 in the park, representing an increase over what was contained in the draft supplement. The NPS justified the increase by stating that proposed work at Rim Village would reduce the area affected by development from 32 acres to 12 acres. This was to be accomplished largely by combining the functions of the buildings scheduled for removal (the cafeteria and the Community House) into a new lodge. The concessioner’s employee dormitory was to remain at Rim Village for the remainder of its useful life, but alignments for roads and parking had yet to be determined. [130]
