Your task will be to design a Park Ecolodge for a site located inside the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore) in Chesterton-Indiana. The project site occupies a wooded site near the center of the National Lakeshore, including the historical Good Fellow Club Youth Camp along the Little Calumet River, about two miles south of Lake Michigan. The proposed ecolodge should satisfy the plans of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for rehabilitation and expansion of the actual uses of the historic structures and landscape associated with the Good Fellow Youth Camp. Today the camp is the site of the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center and the offices of the Great Lakes Research and Education Center.

Map of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The studio challenge is:  

To produce a design solution that makes creative use of the unique opportunities provided by the rehabilitation of this site within the National Lakeshore.

The project’s main objectives are:

• To provide a sustainable design solution that will have minimum or no impact to its immediate park environment.
• To provide a design solution that will effectively articulate high-end hospitality services and the protection of natural and cultural resources in a historic site.
• To design a Park Ecolodge that articulates historical elements of the environment, site design, and building design in affinity with its genius loci. The project must echo the character of the place and relate to the cultural and social expressions of the surrounding community.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM:
World tourism has grown significantly in the past 50 years; it is now recognized as the world’s largest industry, with sizeable economic benefits –upwards of US$6 trillion in  2011 (WTTC, 2011). In addition, world tourism is the world’s largest employer, generating 260 million jobs, or nearly 1 out of every 12 jobs globally (WTTC, 2011). Today it is well-recognized the importance of sustaining the environments upon which communities and tourism depend. Sustainable tourism requires an intricate balance of social, environmental, and economic efforts to support positive change from a very local to a very global perspective.

Since its inception in the 1980’s ecotourism became the sustainable strategy for tourism mainly dedicated to the conservation of regions of high biodiversity. In 1990, the International Ecotourism Society (or TIES) expanded the ecotourism definition as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people” (TIES, 1990). Ecotourism has been rapidly expanding in recent decades and is expected to further grow in the future. It has already matured enough to go beyond being a “niche” for nerdy conservationists to provide a strong impetus to promote sustainability within the main stream tourism industry. Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel (TIES, 2010) and it is naturally in line with the principles expressed by the UN Millennium Development Goals (UN, 2011).

Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals concentrates on ensuring environmental sustainability. Studies have demonstrated that the most effective approach to implement this goal is via the creation and conservation of parks and protected areas. Parks and protected areas are vitally important for the conservation of biodiversity, but they also have a dual mandate of conservation and human use. Conservation through park tourism then includes the long-term maintenance of both natural and cultural heritage. The global trend is for governments to increasingly create parkland for diversity conservation purposes but hold budgets static or decrease financial allocations. Park tourism comes to remediate the situation becoming the second most prevalent source for park management funding. Among revenue sources in parks and protected areas (Eagles, et. al, 2002) accommodations for visitors, concessions, and food sales are mentioned among others. They are effective through concessionaires or contracts that provide the corresponding services. Accommodations charges can be one of the largest income sources available for protected areas. It is important to notice that tourism income does not automatically lead to effective park management, or even worst to environmental protection, community development, or preservation of the cultural heritage. One mechanism leading to effective sustainable tourism (Mehta, 2010) is through master planning and ecologically conscious landscape design. The careful planning and design of a park ecolodge may give answer to the question of sustainable conservation.

The term “Ecolodge” has been defined (Mehta, 2010) as an accommodation facility with limited room capacity (no more than 75 rooms), low-impact, nature-based, and financially sustainable. Moreover an ecolodge must help to protect sensitive neighboring areas, must involve and help benefit local communities, must offer tourists an interpretative and interactive participatory experience, and must provide a spiritual communion with nature and culture.

Our studio project should:

• embrace the principles described by the above stated definition on ecolodge design within the framework of the implementation of sustainable park tourism.
• consider protecting the historical Good Fellow Club Youth Camp character and sense of place, while rehabilitating its historic building and landscape features.

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ABOUT THE GOOD FELLOW CLUB YOUTH CAMP:
According to the National Park Service document, Phase II: Environmental Assessment (NPS, 2010), the National Lakeshore is located in northern Indiana along the south shore of Lake Michigan between Gary and Michigan City, Indiana, approximately fifty miles southeast of Chicago. The National Lakeshore is loosely bounded by Lake Michigan to the north and US 20 to the south. The National Lakeshore is separated into an East Unit and a West Unit, with several small non-contiguous satellite areas. A variety of residential, commercial, and industrial developments abuts the National Lakeshore boundaries, including several small communities that are completely surrounded by National Lakeshore land (NPS 1997b). The National Lakeshore covers approximately 15,000 acres, including the 2,182-acre Indiana Dunes State Park managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Since the creation of the National Lakeshore, development has increased to the point that most of its boundary now consists of homes, farms, roads, or businesses. The National Lakeshore is primarily divided into two large lakefront units by an industrial complex that includes two steel companies, a public service company, and the Port of Indiana. The project area occupies a wooded site of 69.5 acres inside the National Lakeshore; sixty-three acres belong to the historical “Good Fellow Club Youth Camp” plus, approximately 6.5 acres are of non-historical land located just north of the entrance road.

Map of the project site known as “Good Fellow Club Youth Camp”

The historic footprint of the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp consists of wooded and open areas  (formerly there were about thirty-five acres of open lawn), historic camp buildings (nine one to three-story rustic buildings) located at the northwest corner of the site, and former site recreational facilities.  The property is generally rectangular in shape, approximately 1,600 feet deep and 1,000 feet wide. The northern boundary of the property is irregular and is formed by the adjacent power company property. The southern boundary is also irregular and is formed by the top of the bluff overlooking the Little Calumet River. The western boundary is an area of woodland while the eastern boundary is formed by Howe Road. The highest elevation, approximately 690 feet above mean sea level, is at the northern boundary of the camp. The ground slopes down across hills and terraces to the river’s edge at approximately 606 feet above mean sea level. The main buildings of the camp stand at the top of a moraine overlooking the Little Calumet River. These embody visions of an Adirondack style summer camp (redwood tongue and groove siding and rectangular massing), including a rural, rustic character that blends with the natural environment. At the base of the steep hill where the historic Lodge is located (today used as storage), fourteen concrete slabs are arranged in a horseshoe pattern within a field. These concrete slabs are all that remain of the children’s camp cabins, the former handicraft cabin and the former nurse’s cabin. The washhouse foundation is located in the center of the cabin pads. To the southeast of the concrete pads, within the dense wooded area of the southern boundary, is located the overgrown remains of the large tennis court and the basketball court. To the south of the courts nearer the river are the remnants of the riflery. Approximately 6.5 acres of land just north of the historic lodge is the site of the gravel parking lot (non-historical) and the former site of the challenge course.

GOOD FELLOW CLUB YOUTH CAMP HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
According to the National Park Service (NPS, 2010), the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp was built as a summer camp for employees’ children, and operated by the Good Fellow Club of U.S. Steel’s Gary Works from 1941 to 1976. In addition to organized sports and crafts, the activities of the camp emphasized an appreciation of the natural environment and the history of native peoples and pioneer settlers in the region. The National Park Service purchased the camp in 1977 for inclusion within the National Lakeshore. However funding for extensive maintenance and repairs did not become available until the 1990s. Before that time most changes involved removal of deteriorated structures. The small cabins were dismantled in the 1980s and the primary buildings on the site were retained but fell into disuse. The buildings gradually deteriorated as the camp site was effectively abandoned for camping. Since that time, the NPS began planning the rehabilitation and renovation of the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp. The NPS is currently planning for rehabilitation to accommodate needs of partnering entities to share costs associated with management, operations and upkeep and benefit from cultural landscape values of the site. It is the intention of the NPS to develop the site in a manner that protects its historic character and sense of place while rehabilitating its historic buildings and landscape features.  Several plans and studies[1] have informed and led to the development of alternatives for the rehabilitation of this area. Among these studies the Environmental Assessment (EA) is the compliance document and Phase II of the previously completed Cultural Landscape Report and Historic Structures Report. The combined Cultural Landscape Report/Historic Structures Report/ and Environmental Assessment were prepared to reflect the interconnected nature of the cultural resources and natural resources of the camp, both physically and in terms of function. The EA identified three action alternatives and among them a preferred alternative (Alternative D). (NPS, 2010). The NPS EA document states that any project in this site should promote and active use for the site that is also economically sustainable. In this regard, the Alternative D (NPS Preferred Alternative) assumes a partnership between the NPS and a third-party interested in sensitively rehabilitating the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp site for commercial special events and activities rental such as conferences, professional and recreational retreats, and other types of events.

Map of the Alternative D ( NPS Preferred Alternative)

Our studio project recognizes the Alternative D proposal as a basic set of guidelines to follow during planning and design

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NPS DEVELOPMENT CONSIDERATIONS (NPS, 2010) FOR THE REHABILITATION OF HISTORIC STRUCTURES AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE:

• The historic Good Fellow Club Youth Camp site should be considered for adaptive reuse to support the NPS objectives for the site including additional overnight camping facilities and gathering spaces for education, interpretation, demonstration and special events. Potential partners or third parties will take care of the management of these additional facilities.
• Construction of camping or lodging facilities on the footprints of the historic camp cabins
• Restoration and reuse of some or all historic recreational features. Reuse of the site for these purposes must ensure protection of landscape and architectural features that contribute to the camp’s historical significance. If not re-used or maintained properly, features that are currently in poor condition, such as the steel bridge, riflery, flagstone walk at the lodge, stone retaining wall along the river, and steel swimming pool may be lost to further deterioration.
• Management of vegetation
• Potential Expansion of Camp Facilities
• Expansion of parking
• Provision of access for both vehicles and visitors on foot. This would include universal accessibility for parking, pedestrian access to buildings, and pedestrian access to outdoor program and interpretive spaces and trails.
• Protection of Natural and Cultural Resources through environmental mitigation and sustainable design.
• Provision for Flexible Management Opportunities in Public/Private Partnership with the Park
• Revenue generation options should be pursued ranging from self-sustaining at a minimum to providing a revenue stream to the Park.
• Enhancement of interpretation: Due to the significant cultural and natural resources of Good Fellow Club Youth Camp, new interpretive opportunities should be developed that complement and enhance the existing Park interpretive plan and interpretation by the DLC.
• The Dunes Learning Center is a current partner of the NPS and actively uses both buildings and cultural landscape features within the boundaries of the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp. If portions of the study area that have been historically used by the DLC change, there would be negotiations between NPS and DLC for alternative uses.

REFERENCES

• Eagles, P., McCool, S. & Haynes, C. (2002). “Sustainable tourism in protected areas: Guidelines for planning and management”. Paris: France: United Nations Environment Programme, World Tourism Organization and World Conservation Union.
• Mehta, H. (2010). “Authentic Ecolodges”. Harper Collins, New York.
• National Park Service (NPS) (2010).  U.S. Department of the Interior. “Phase II: Environmental Assessment for the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp”. Retrieved from http://americas.iweb.bsu.edu/americas/Americas_vds13/Environmental_Assessment.pdf
• Good Fellow Club Youth Camp, Historic Structures Report and Cultural Landscape Report (NPS 2005). Retrieved from http://americas.iweb.bsu.edu/americas/Americas_vds13/HISTORIC_REPORT.pdf
• Sloan, P. Legrand, W. and Chen, J.S. (2009). “Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of sustainable operators”, Elsevier. Amsterdam.
• The International Ecotourism Society (IES) (1990). What is Ecotourism? Retrieved March 27, 2012, from http://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism
• The International Ecotourism Society (IES) (2010). Ecotourism now and then. Retrieved June 14, 2012 from http://www.ecotourism.org/ecotourism-the-and-now
• United Nations (UN) (2011). Millennium Development Goals. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals
• National Park Service (2013).  Rehabilitating. Retrieved July 25 2013, from: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/standguide/rehab/rehab_index.htm
• World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) (2012). Travel & Tourism 2011. Retrieved from http://www.wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/traveltourism2011.pdf