Dates

September, 1964 - Beaver Meadows site selected.

June 24, 1967 - Beaver Meadows Opening

January, 2001 - National Historic Monument

Context

Of the 114 visitor centers built during Mission 66, the Beaver Meadows building is one of the best exemplars of the project’s modernist ethos. The center’s location was a matter of considerable debate ever since the launch of Mission 66, but Rocky Mountain National Park’s planners finally approved the definitive site in 1964. Located at Beaver Meadows, just outside the park’s official boundary, the new visitor and administrative center not only occupied a newly acquired eastern territory, but was intended to improve relations with nearby Estes Park.

[Photos: Beaver Meadows Site; Beaver Meadows Construction 1 & 2]

Taliesin, the architectural firm of the famed Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the visitor center (allegedly at the urging of Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall). Wright himself helped draft up Estes Park’s Horseshoe Inn in 1908, and the early schematics suggest hints of the “organic architecture” style that would shape Beaver Meadows. Unfortunately, Wright died in 1959, but Taliesin architect Tom Casey expertly designed Rocky Mountain National Park’s new visitor center in an intentionally Wrightian fashion. The structure was deliberately crafted to blend into the natural environment, with its red stone exterior and distinctive, rust-colored Cor-ten framework mimicking the surroundings. Beaver Meadows Visitor Center’s visual aesthetic is complimented by its effect on visitors’ perceptions of the park. An exterior walkway wraps around the building and gives guests uninhibited views of Longs Peak and other scenic locales.

[Photos: Raising Walls on Beaver Meadows; Profile; Couch and Ashtray

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center continues to be one of Mission 66’s biggest successes, and gained recognition as a National Historic Landmark in January, 2001. The building’s design is harmoniously in line with Mission 66’s driving philosophy on enhancing the visitor’s park-going experience. The impressive structure shifts the viewer’s focus to the park itself and encourages mobility. Its expansive, window-laden interior constantly reminds visitors to explore the outside world. The center’s furniture and decor, personally selected by Olgivanna Lloyd Wright and Taliesin, take a similarly modernist approach as the building, mixing manufactured aesthetic with a hint of naturality. Like Beaver Meadows Visitor Center itself, the furniture gives visitors a welcome place to rest and collect their bearings, but discourages them from lingering for too long while the park beckons.