KALISPELL — Glacier National Park officials held a special event at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell Wednesday night to celebrate the grand reopening of Sperry Chalet.
The historic chalet was mostly destroyed in the Sprague fire of 2017 which burned thousands of acres in Glacier National Park.
Crews worked for more than two years to reconstruct the chalet which sits at around 6,000 feet in elevation.
Materials were flown in from helicopter or packed up by mule train and crews hiked uphill seven miles to work on the project.
Reservations were made open to the public in January with the first official day for guests set for July 18.
Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow says he's amazed at how the community came together in such a short time to support and help save the chalet.
“It’s pretty remarkable to look at where we were two years ago with just standing walls and what we’ve managed to accomplish in such a short amount of time," said Mow.
Sperry Chalet will be in operation this summer from July 18 to Sept. 13 as long as the weather cooperates.
