Yosemite National Park’s 95-year-old Ahwahnee Hotel is set to undergo some major upgrades.
Park spokesman Scott Gediman said the $31.5 million project includes bracing the chimneys and support walls, replacing window frames, dining room and solarium glass, as well as other infrastructure upgrades.
He also said the project will include the installation of new seismic protection infrastructure.
"With the San Andreas Fault on the east side of the Sierra, we certainly do get some earthquake activity,” he said. “In fact, over the weekend there was a small earthquake that I actually felt here in the park. And so, it's just one of those things with a hotel that is almost 100 years old, it just doesn't have the seismic features that are required."
A 2002 seismic report from engineers hired by the National Park Service found that the historic hotel could sustain extensive damage and the potential for loss of human life in the event of a large earthquake, according to the Associated Press.
Park officials said funding for the renovation is coming from the federal Great American Outdoors Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Ahwahnee will be closed for roughly nine weeks in early 2023 while much of the construction takes place.
There are 97 guest rooms and 24 cottages at the Ahwahnee. Famous visitors include President John Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama and his family.
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