The discovery centre at Rogers Pass in B.C.’s Glacier National Park is slated to become the last standing structure in the area this summer as the dilapidated hotel and gas station are scheduled to face the wrecking ball. Now, Parks Canada is asking park visitors and highway travellers for suggestions on what services should be added to the area.

“For a number of years, we’ve been hearing in our visitor centre anecdotally,” said Nick Irving, superintendent for Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. “We wanted to reach out to seek input from people just to get a sense of the types of services, not specifically A or B, but rather the type of things that people would be looking for.”

“We’re hearing time and again that there’s a desire for some accommodation offer. Similarly, we’re hearing of the need for some food offer of some stripe.”

Irving says it is too early in the planning process to determine if the additions to the geographically-constrained, avalanche-prone area would be privately owned or if they would be operated by Parks Canada. A firm timeline for the completion of the project has not been released but officials hope to have a modern washroom building in place this summer with the other services added in the coming years.

The Glacier Park Lodge along the Trans-Canada Highway in Glacier National Park last welcomed guests in 2012 and the service station shuttered in 2009. Parks Canada accepted responsibility of the buildings in the fall of 2016 and both structures, and the land the gas station stood on, was found to be significantly contaminated.

“There was very little, in any, upkeep undertaken to maintain the condition of the hotel and the service station,” said Irving. “Rogers Pass, being the harsh weather environment that is, both of the structures have aged quite rapidly and, unfortunately, are in a condition where we need to take them down and remediate both the contamination that was found within the structures as well as the subsurface contamination that traces back to the rail history.”

The world-renowned backcountry recreational area played a significant role in Canadian history as Indigenous people made their way through Rogers Pass while crossing the northern Selkirk Mountains and freight and passengers travelled through the region on the CP Rail line and Trans-Canada Highway.

To have your say on the future of Rogers Pass, visit Parks Canada: Rogers Pass- Join the Discussion.

With files from CTV's Bill Macfarlane