S-4669.1  _______________________________________________

                    SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8031

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

By Senators Fraser, Deccio, Talmadge, Morton, McCaslin and Roach

Read first time 02/01/94.  Referred to Committee on Ecology & Parks.

Requesting the National Park Service to preserve Sunrise Lodge.

    TO THE HONORABLE BILL CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO BRUCE BABBITT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, AND TO ROGER KENNEDY, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:

    We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

    WHEREAS, The recognition and preservation of architectural, cultural, and historic resources in Washington State contributes to the understanding of our past; and

    WHEREAS, Mt. Rainier National Park is one of the most significant natural resources in the United States and the State of Washington; and

    WHEREAS, The historic buildings throughout Mt. Rainier National Park represent a collection of buildings that reflect important periods in the park's development; and

    WHEREAS, The Sunrise Lodge in Yakima Park was built in 1931 by the Rainier National Park Company and later acquired by the National Park Service and has served thousands of people for more than seventy years; and

    WHEREAS, Sunrise Lodge, together with the remaining structures that once comprised "Sunrise Village," now form the Sunrise Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; and

    WHEREAS, The significance of that district lies in its historical association with the first comprehensive planning effort for facilities development in Yakima Park, and in the visual unity achieved by the consistent use of design elements in the rustic tradition to integrate the complex with its natural setting; and

    WHEREAS, The National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Region, developed a draft Environmental Assessment/Development Concept Plan for the Sunrise Area in June 1992, that recommends a plan that would demolish Sunrise Lodge; and

    WHEREAS, The cost differential among the alternatives, one of which would preserve and rehabilitate Sunrise Lodge, is negligible compared to the loss of historic and cultural values that would be the result of the demolition of Sunrise Lodge;

    NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Region, reconsider its decision to demolish Sunrise Lodge and work with local and state-wide interests in preserving this structure.

    BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the United States, Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, Roger Kennedy, Director of the National Park Service, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.

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