Role

Superintendent of ROMO
 

Dates of Involvement

1964-1965
 

Context

Granville Liles was tasked with determining the location of the new visitor center. Multiple sites had been considered with attention to road development, land acquisitions, visitor movement through the park, the proximity of administrative buildings, and programmatic requirements. In the summer of 1964 Liles met with Casey and Peters of Taliesin Associated Architects to review the final two potential sites. One site on the right side of the road about a mile into the park and the other site on the left side of the road just outside park boundaries. Both sites had challenges with visitor volume and space limitations yet Liles was certain the site on the left side of the road had the ability to improve the relationship with nearby town Estes Park. The relationship ROMO had with the town of Estes Park was very important to Liles. The proximity of Estes Park had allowed for visitor accommodations and other services for ROMO to be located outside park boundaries. Since the park’s founding in 1915 several different headquarters and offices for ROMO had been located in Estes Park giving the residents of Estes Park a sense of ownership in the success of ROMO. Liles believed the visitor center should give back to Estes Park through providing a space for events and meetings. The large auditorium was included specifically with community use in mind and the location beyond park boundaries- allowing residents access without going into the park- reflects the importance Liles placed on the acceptance of Estes Park residents to the Mission 66 changes.

Liles influence went beyond the location and into the details of the features within the building. The role of contract client proved challenging for Liles as the minut planning details required much attention in addition to the traditional superintendent duties. Casey from Taliesin worked closely with Liles to resolve the continuous string of issues in the design and construction process. It was not a perfect relationship. Liles dismissal of a traditional air conditioning system because of ROMO’s high elevation was deemed a serious oversight by National Park Service officials with blame even being spread to Casey and the Taliesin team for not countering such a mistake. The mistake was not addressed until well after construction underway leaving little space or money for corrections.

Liles also encountered challenges with the auditorium specifications. The original plans had the projection screen was too high and the projection booth off-center, both challenging issues when faced with daily use. The auditorium created additional obstacles when the lack of speakers and ventilation for the projection booth came to light. The signature orange curtains selected by Olgivanna Lloyd Wright specifically for the building were also selected for the auditorium after it came to light there being no way to darken the room or structures to hang curtains in the original design. The bidding process was not without struggle as well. Bidding companies experienced miscommunication on the needs of the project from Liles and WODC causing temporary chaos and delays of construction. This unfortunately coincided with a major flood in Denver resulting in fewer bids than planned due to the disruption of business. The budget itself also needed multiple revisions with line item estimates being much too low for the quality of product desired or the product itself was not appropriate for the mountain weather.

Liles tenure at ROMO was brief yet his vision of the future of ROMO left a lasting impression in the location of BMVC and its contents.

Career

National Park Service ROMO superintendent 1964-1965, National Park Service Southeast Regional Office (Atlanta GA) Assistant Regional Director 1966-1968, Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia-North Carolina) Superintendent 1968-1975