As Shawnee Lodge makes preparations to greet a full house over the Thanksgiving weekend, we look back on the first year of major renovations. Shawnee Lodge & Conference Center is the centerpiece of Shawnee State Park, west of the City of Portsmouth, Ohio, where the Scioto flows into the Ohio River.
Late in 2015, BDT was selected by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, to assess the facility and to prioritize renovations over the next several biennium. BDT identified public amenities such as the indoor pool, decks and terraces as primary areas to revitalize. These elements contribute to the character of the facility and their functionality and appearance play a big role in how a visitor experiences and enjoys the lodge. BDT Principal Architect Nicholas Bittner prioritized the rehabilitation by outlining construction phases to tackle obstacles piece-by-piece.
VISION STATEMENT
The revitalized Shawnee Lodge will have a clear identity as a year-round vibrant hub for activity at the Shawnee State Park. Shawnee’s effectiveness for the visitor’s welfare is gained by enhancing great spaces while developing new ones that increase and foster physical, social and environmental connections.
Year one construction consisted of items the design team termed “warm, safe & dry.” The scope of work focused on structural repair of the exposed massive western cedar beams, columns and deteriorated wood decks. Significant sections of aluminum storefront and gutters/downspouts were also replaced. Two redundant propane boilers were substituted for a red-tagged electric behemoth. Nicholas suggested opening the main entrance known as the Front Porch with auto-operated glass doors. He noted that, “the vestibule had always felt very claustrophobic and dim with the plain wood doors. This gesture permits views to the outdoors in both directions.”
Shawnee Lodge has outdoor and indoor pools, which makes it one of the few state parks that has both facilities to offer guests in its 50 rooms. The sheet flooring surrounding the pool was becoming unadhered to the concrete slab, creating a significant tripping hazard to guests. An organization supporting physically disabled persons called Joni & Friends rents most of the building for two separate weeks in the summer. To make for a safer crossing for all guests, BDT specified seamless resilient flooring for areas adjacent the pool.
While the lodge was open to the public in January 1973 and the major addition of the Conference Center wing added in 1987, the park itself had been established in 1922 as the Roosevelt Game Preserve in honor of conservationist and former President Theodore Roosevelt.
The Shawnee Lodge standing today nestled above Turkey Creek Lake was designed by Cincinnati Architecture Firm Pansiera Dohme Tilsley & Co. (which merged with SFA Architects in 2009) and engineered by W.N.K & Associates along with Young, Russo, Graham & Obermeyer Ltd (now GOP Limited since 2005).
The facility opened during a boom in resort facilities constructed by the State of Ohio in the early 70s at the height of the oil and gas crisis of the era. In May of 1972 alone, lodges at Salt Fork and Hocking Hills State Parks opened. Construction also commenced that summer for the Mohican State Park Lodge. The same design team added what is known as the Conference Center in 1987 to the main level. Since that time there have not been any major renovations.