Mission 66 buildings have crossed the 50-year threshold to become historic artifacts. Some are now National Historic Landmarks; others have been demolished.
Today's NPS is correcting Mission 66's overreach, removing parking lots from canyon rims and replacing cars with shuttle systems, using the very zoning principles the program pioneered.
Mission 66's buildings have crossed the fifty-year threshold to become historic artifacts. The program leaves a polarized legacy that modern park managers must continuously navigate.
Many modernist visitor centers succeeded exactly, processing millions of visitors at low maintenance cost for decades. Several have been elevated to National Historic Landmark status, including Beaver Meadows at Rocky Mountain and the Quarry Visitor Center at Dinosaur, which was rehabilitated after severe structural issues.
But the experimental nature of Park Service Modern also produced failures. Flat roofs leaked under heavy snow. Mass-produced materials degraded in extreme weather. As public taste shifted back toward rustic nostalgia, the concrete structures were derided eyesores.
Richard Neutra's Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg was demolished in 2013 despite its architectural pedigree. Mount Rainier's visitor center met a similar fate. In Yellowstone, the Mission 66 Old Faithful Visitor Center was replaced with a building featuring nostalgic rustic touches.
At Mesa Verde, the Far View Visitor Center was simply abandoned when a new facility opened in 2012, left to sit stagnant without a reuse plan.
Today, the NPS faces a familiar crisis: another surge in visitation mirroring the exact conditions that created Mission 66. But contemporary solutions look very different.
At Grand Canyon's Mather Point, originally paved to let tourists drive right up to the rim, the NPS removed the Mission 66 parking lots entirely between 2009 and 2012. They created a vehicle-free pedestrian zone and amphitheater.
Parking for 900 cars and 40 tour buses was relocated away from the rim, connected by shuttle routes. By removing the automobile from the scenic vista, the NPS corrected Mission 66's overreach, ironically using the very zoning principles the program pioneered.
The NPS removed the Mission 66 parking lots from Mather Point, creating a vehicle-free pedestrian zone, essentially correcting the developmental overreach while using the zoning principles the program pioneered.
Preservation Status of Western Mission 66 Structures
Park | Structure | Architect | Status
Rocky Mountain | Beaver Meadows Visitor Center | Taliesin (Frank Lloyd Wright) | National Historic Landmark
Dinosaur | Quarry Visitor Center | Anshen & Allen | NHL; rehabilitated
Grand Teton | Jackson Lake Lodge | Gilbert Stanley Underwood | Active & iconic
Death Valley | Furnace Creek Visitor Center | Cecil Doty / Welton Becket | Renovated
Mesa Verde | Far View Visitor Center | WODC / Marlowe | Abandoned (replaced 2012)
Mount Rainier | Jackson Visitor Center | Whimberley et al. | Demolished
Yellowstone | Old Faithful Visitor Center | SF Planning Center | Demolished; replaced with rustic style
Gettysburg | Cyclorama Building | Richard Neutra | Demolished 2013