Grand Canyon’s burned lodge leaves a very large hole

Last summer the Dragon Bravo fire destroyed a beloved US landmark, the Grand Canyon Lodge. This video provides an excellent update on what, if anything, can be done to save it.

This is not just a construction problem. The lodge burned once, in 1932, and was rebuilt. Now the park has to decide what it means to replace a landmark that served visitors, workers, history, and the landscape all at once. Build it back as it was? Build something more fire-resistant? Build something smaller? Use the loss to rethink the whole North Rim visitor experience?

The old lodge is gone. Whatever comes next has to be more than a replacement building.