The U.S. Department of Interior and National Park Service officials celebrated Wednesday the construction of new housing units at Rocky Mountain National Park.

“These projects have addressed a significant maintenance backlog at the park and will reduce operation and maintenance costs in the future; two critical issues for the Secretary, said Rick May, senior national advisor for recreation at Interior. “We are appreciative of the partners who are providing assistance to Rocky Mountain National Park to improve housing conditions for park staff who provide important services to park visitors.”

Two “Park Model” RV units were donated to the park by the Forest River Park Model Division of Elkhart, Ind., and two were donated by the RV Industry Association. Each structure provides approximately 400 square feet gross floor area.

Also highlighted Wednesday was the construction of two new bunkhouses. This project replaced two dilapidated and obsolete houses with two new four-bedroom, eight-bed housing units, each encompassing 1,880 square feet. The new quarters will be fully accessible.

A contractor constructed the shells and the finish work will be completed by the Larimer County Conservation Corps of Fort Collins. The LCCC will be directly hired and funded through a donation from the park’s non-profit cooperating association, Rocky Mountain Conservancy. The LCCC will work under the supervision of park staff.

“We are grateful for the generous donations from Forest River Park Model Division, the RV Industry Association, and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy,” said Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent Darla Sidles.  “These organizations have contributed greatly to provide much-needed new housing units for park staff to rent. Additional housing is one of the park’s highest priorities, to help us better attract and retain the staff that are so critical to serving our visitors and protecting Rocky’s amazing resources.”