Oregon Public Broadcasting

More than $4 million of federal stimulus money will go toward improvements at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.  Barbara Leidl reports.

Timberline Lodge was actually a stimulus project when it was built, during the Great Depression. Now, some 70 years and millions of visitors later, the building needs new pipes and windows, and its chimneys need rebuilding.

Those projects and more will be done with the stimulus money, says Jon Tullis with Timberline Lodge.

Jon Tullis: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make an investment in Timberline Lodge we’re doing everything we can to work closely to the Forest Service and with these contractors to ensure the workgoes forward in a successful fashion."

Tullis says contractors will start as early as this month. The work is estimated to take about a year.

In addition to the stimulus money for improvements at Timberline, Mount Hood National Forest also received $1.4 million for trails work.