The National Park Service recently issued a prospectus seeking bids for management of Cedar Pass Lodge, the only lodging facility at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. In addition to operation of the lodge, the proposal includes managing food service, retail, and a large campground nearby the lodge. The 10-year contract is expected to become effective November 1, 2025.

Cedar Pass Lodge comprises 27 guest units including one recently-renovated 2-bedroom cottage. The other 26 units are energy-efficient cabins manufactured in Rapid City, South Dakota, and transported to the park in 2012 by then concessionaire, Forever Resorts. In 2022 current concessionaire Aramark Destinations acquired Forever Resort’s national park operations. Twenty cabins are free-standing with the other six being in three duplex cabins. Several years ago we spent two cold and snowy days in April in one of the free-standing units and found it quite comfortable and a major step up in comparison with the 1920s cabins we had previously stayed in on a number of occasions.

The campground currently has 96 sites plus four group sites. According to the prospectus, 22 of the individual sites are designated for RVs and have electric hookups, but no water sewer hookups. The proposed contract requires a reduction of 14 campground sites due to flooding issues in addition to one site being reserved for a campground host. The contract permits the winning concessionaire to add up to five rustic camper cabins subject to approval by park officials. In addition, NPS may choose to add and pay for construction of an additional campground loop to offset the loss of sites being taken out of service.

The fly in the ointment is a requirement for the concessionaire to stabilize and rehabilitate the kitchen area currently located in the main lodge building. This will involve removing and replacing an underlying kitchen slab of more than 1,600 square feet and installing pilings in the interior basement walls to strengthen the new flooring. At an estimated cost of a half-million dollars to be paid by the concessionaire, the removal and replacement must be completed by the second year of the contract.

During the year of construction the concessionaire’s administration area, lodge check-in and retail will remain in the main lodge building while food and beverage service will be offered from a temporary facility. Food service will move back into the main lodge by the beginning of year two of the contract.

The park is in the process of building a new visitor center. All concession services including food and beverage will move to the existing visitor center when the new visitor center is finished and the current visitor center is renovated. It is estimated this will not take place until year 5 or later.

The National Park Service estimates the new operator’s initial outlay at $1.715 million for personal property, inventory, working capital and start-up costs. The concessionaire will also be required to remedy deferred maintenance during the first two years of the contract at an estimated cost of $232,000. Gross receipts for 2026, the first year of the contract, are estimated at between $3.744 million and $4.138 million, approximately two-thirds of which will originate from lodging and retail. Surprisingly, retail is forecast to generate more revenue than lodging. This is expected to reverse later in the contract when floor space devoted to food service will increase at the expense of retail space.

A minimum franchise fee of 1 percent of the first $4 million of gross receipts and 3.8 percent of receipts over $4 million is required. This is quite modest compared with other NPS lodging contracts that often require franchise fees in the double digits. Bidders can propose a higher fee to improve their chance of winning the contract. In addition to a franchise fee, NPS is requiring a component renewal reserve fee of 3.3 percent of gross receipts to cover fluctuating expenses related to normal component and replacement activities.

Interested parties must submit a “Notice of Intent to Propose” to Eric Nikkel at eric_nikkel@nps.gov, by 12 p.m. (CST) February 19, 2025. Proposals must be received at the same email address by 4 p.m. (CST) March 19, 2025.

David and Kay Scott are authors of “The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot). Visit them at blog.valdosta.edu/dlscott.