Rehabilitation of the Death Valley Scotty Historic District through web-based videos

About This Grant

On October 18, 2015, a flash flood swept through Grapevine Canyon, flooding the grounds of the Death Valley Scotty Historic District (Scotty's Castle), a historic mansion complex that is the focus of a robust interpretive tour program. Scotty's Castle is unique in that the historic house is filled with the actual objects of the owners during the period of significance. House tours provide visitors with an opportunity to connect to a unique cast of characters and an unforgettable story that typifies early twentieth century themes of westward expansion, mining, the 1920s as the prosperity decade, early development of national parks, and the impacts of western settlement on tribal cultures. During the flood, mud and debris up to four feet thick filled two buildings, patios and courtyards. Eight miles of roadway were washed out, as well as water, power, telephone, and internet lines. The waste water treatment system was destroyed, and heating, cooling, and fire sprinkler systems were severely damaged. The site is now closed to the public, and park managers have embarked on a course of action intended to repair all the damage and reopen the site in 2019. Operating and maintaining a historic this historic complex is costly and presents many logistical challenges. DVNHA has had a long history of supporting the operation and maintenance of Scotty's Castle and its unique collection of museum objects. Each year, DVNHA hosts a series of organ concerts in the music room at Scotty's Castle as a benefit. Proceeds from concerts fund annual maintenance and repair of the 121-pipe Welte theater organ (the organ typically used as accompaniment during the silent film era) as well as a team of six interns that conduct an annual cleaning under the direction of the park curator. DVHNA typically funds four interns that support operation of Scotty's Castle. Additionally, DVNHA raises funds for special curatorial projects such as the repair and cleaning of the hand-made leather draperies and other textiles.Although Scotty's Castle has now been closed for over a year, there continues to be keen public interest. Park staff field calls and questions about Scotty's Castle daily, and have found it difficult to convey the enormity of the flood and the process of rebuilding.The park has found that utilizing video shorts is a highly effective method for communicating these unimaginable events and activities. Soon after the flood, DVNHA sponsored the development of two video shorts describing the flood and its immediate aftermath, posted on YouTube with links from the parks official website and facebook. Park managers constantly refer stakeholders to these videos to help them gain an understanding of the flood, and these videos have been viewed over 50,000 times.NPS and DVNHA would like to continue to engage and inform visitors, stakeholders, and potential donors of the progress on the Scotty's Castle renovation through a series of additional video shorts. Proposed topics include: moving the Scotty's Castle museum collection; water for the Castle complex and utility repairs; building repairs and historic preservation; treatment of the museum collection in storage; cultural landscape repair and preservation; returning the museum collection to the site; the grand reopening.