Ortega National Parks, a company with roots on Route 66, was given the contract for concessions at the Petrified Forest National Park, reported the Arizona Journal.
Xanterra Parks and Resorts held the park’s concessions contract for more than 30 years after it bought out the Fred Harvey Company, which served the park for 40 years before that. Petrified Forest officials opened its concessions contract to bids for the first time in more than 70 years.
The contract includes running gift shops at Painted Desert Oasis and Rainbow Forest Lodge and the Painted Desert Oasis restaurant.
But Petrified Forest National Park officials wanted a new wrinkle: an ice cream shop and refreshments at the restored Painted Desert Inn that dates to the 1920s as a Route 66 business managed by Fred Harvey. The Painted Desert Inn closed in 1963 and reopened to the public in 2006. It now holds displays about Route 66 and the Civilian Conservation Corps.
A park official said returning the Painted Desert Inn to its dining roots would give a “vintage Route 66 experience” for visitors.
Xanterra declined to bid.
More on Ortega National Parks:
The family owns and operates El Rancho Hotel in Gallup and several businesses in both retail and food service on the square in Santa Fe. They also operate park concession contracts at other national park sites including Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, Acadia National Park in Maine and the Stovepipe Wells area of Death Valley National Park in California. […]
Armand Ortega, principal owner of the firm, said, “We are delighted to be selected to operate the concession at Petrified Forest National Park. My family has a long history doing business in the local area. The Ortegas began as shepherds and ranchers in the Holbrook area, on land just outside the park. In fact, I grew up in my family’s trading post, The Hopi House, which was between Holbrook and Winslow until the interstate was built over it. […] We look forward to reaching out to the existing staff about employment, as well as local artists, craftsmen and farmers who would like to do business with us as we ramp up for the start of operations.”
The transition will begin in January. The Painted Desert Inn will serve ice cream and other refreshments by summer.
(Image of the Painted Desert Inn via the National Park Service)