The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has a large number of WPA-era state park facilities in need of preservation and rehabilitation. With the start of a blanket contract with TPWD in 2014, TreanorHL had the opportunity of working on many of the park facilities in the West Texas "Big Bend" region, ranging in size from the Shurley House remodeling at Black Gap Wildlife Management Area to the full renovation and upgrade of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Motor Court at Balmorhea State Park. The unique feature of these projects was the chance to work with adobe, a material common to the Southwest but rare in Kansas. Due to the remote nature of the area, accurate and extensive site documentation was required to be completed as thoroughly as possible on a tight schedule, making my detail sketching skills critical for field notes.
The projects I was involved in, starting in December of 2014, were:
Shurley Ranch House - 2014-2015
Balmorhea CCC Motor Court Roof Replacement & HVAC Upgrades - 2014-2015
Ft. Leaton Roof Replacement - 2016-2018
Indian Lodge Roof Replacement & Exterior Repairs - 2016-2018
Balmorhea CCC Motor Court Roof Replacement & Site Facility Upgrades - 2016-2020
Indian Lodge Black Bear Restaurant Roof Replacement - 2018-2019
Balmorhea Manager's House Roof Replacement - 2018-2020
Big Bend Ranch Sauceda House Condition Assessment - 2019
Onsite at Shurley Ranch House, verifying exterior conditions and sketching details for use in construction documents.
Entrance to Black Gap WMA
The Shurley Ranch House, at Black Gap WMA, the first project in West Texas.
San Solomon Spring at Balmorhea SP
CCC Motor Court at Balmorhea SP
1960s-70s postcard of Indian Lodge
Indian Lodge in 2014
Canale investigation at Ft. Leaton
