State-of-the-art, climate-controlled facility preserves fleet in Columbia Falls
By Justin Franz, Flathead Beacon
COLUMBIA FALLS- A few years ago, after the foliage had fallen and the Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed for the season, Glacier National Park's iconic Red Buses were mothballed for the winter in a dingy old barn in East Glacier Park.
While the old barn, built in 1919, had successfully protected the fleet of 33 "Reds" for more than 70 winters, it wasn't a perfect home for the beloved buses.
Dave Eglsaer, the man tasked with protecting the buses for the last few years, said sometimes the wind blew as hard inside as it did outside. On some occasions snow would even penetrate the cracks between the walls or under the doors, resulting in huge drifts inside the barn.
But that's not going to be a problem this winter at the new 30,000-square-foot Red Bus barn near Columbia Falls that was completed this fall by Xanterra Parks and Resorts at a cost of $2 million.
"This is the first time since the first one was built back in 1936 that the Red Buses will be stored in a climate controlled facility," said Eglsaer, Xanterra's transportation director. "It's a huge upgrade."
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Click here to view Project Details on Hammerquist Casalegno's website
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