Granville Liles
Role
Superintendent of ROMO
Dates of Involvement
1964-1965
Context
As park superintendent, 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 was about a mile into the park, and the other site was on the left side of the road just outside park boundaries (Allaback, 2000). 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 Rocky Mountain National Park (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 by providing a space for events and meetings (National Historic Register Nomination, 2001). 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 planning details required a great deal of his attention in addition to the traditional superintendent duties. Casey from Taliesin worked closely with Liles to resolve the issues that arose during the design and construction process. It was not a perfect relationship. For example, Liles dismissal of a traditional air conditioning system because of ROMO’s high elevation was deemed a serious oversight by National Park Service officials who also blamed Casey and the Taliesin team for not countering such a mistake (National Historic Register Nomination, 2001). The mistake was not identified until well after construction began leaving little space or money for corrections.
Liles also encountered challenges with the auditorium. The original plans had the projection screen too high and the projection booth off-center in the room, both challenging issues when faced with daily use (Lee Collection, 1966). The projection screen was corrected while the projection booth remained uncentered due to the challenges with the balcony. The balcony, where the projection booth was located, had an entrance from the exterior wrap-around porch (Allaback, 2000). This meant the numerous cords and cables required for the sound system and power had to be secured to prevent visitors from tripping over them. The original plans did not have any provisions for a speaker system, an interesting oversight given the emphasis on allowing the public to use the auditorium for meetings and other functions (Lee Collection, n. d.). The ROMO promotional video was also intended to be played on a loop in the auditorium to educate visitors about the park. This meant the auditorium had to simultaneously be dark enough to play the video while maintaining enough light or security features for visitors entering the balcony from the outdoors to see to walk over cords. Liles had not included any plans for darkening the room or structures to hang curtains in the original design (Lee Collection, n. d.). The signature orange curtains selected by Olgivanna Lloyd Wright specifically for the building were also selected for the auditorium (National Historic Register Nomination, 2001). There was also no planned ventilation in the projection booth which would have resulted in the machines overheating causing frequent repairs/replacement.
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
Beaver Meadows Construction Features Report (Final Enviro Assessment Beaver Meadows) || Granville Liles' Transmission of Booklets (Collection 1192 Series 002.1 folder 408 booklet transmission)
