FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – A study by Yosemite National Park says its landmark Ahwahnee Hotel doesn’t meet modern safety standards and might not hold up in a major earthquake.
The engineering study submitted to the National Park Service and released Thursday says the deluxe hotel’s walls and floors are so vulnerable to damage that human lives could be lost in a major earthquake.
The park says the remodeling could cost $20 million and close the hotel for two years.
The White House is reviewing whether the hotel retrofit should be funded through the stimulus package, but it is just one of hundreds of projects on the Department of Interior’s wish-list.
Presidents and tourists from around the world have stayed in the stately Art Deco lodge since it opened in 1927.
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