A Spirited Restoration

a Spirited Restoration Painted Desert Inn returned to its glory—ghosts and all

Cozy History The colorful Painted Desert Inn once offered weary desert travelers a place to stop for a cool drink, enjoy a meal and purchase Indian arts and crafts. Now that the inn is a museum and bookstore, tourists can no longer spend the night, but in 1924, an overnight stay cost $2 to $4.

Despite the fire that filled the Painted Desert Inn with smoke, Clinton Harkins broke down the locked front door and crawled into the building on his hands and knees to avoid the intense heat. Inside, the park ranger found Mrs. Marion Mace lying unconscious in her bedroom. Harkins dragged the manager outside and laid her on the ground. Then he charged back into the historic inn, created by some of the most famous and imaginative architects in the Southwest, and smothered the flames with a fire extinguisher. Tragically, while Harkins was battling the fire, the inn's manager died from smoke inhalation. No one knows for sure what caused the fire inside the Painted Desert Inn on the night of April 9, 1953, but Mrs. Mace was reportedly a smoker and the fire started in her bedroom. Maybe that's why she still haunts the place, some say. In any case, thanks to Harkins' quick action, Painted Desert Inn survived to be one of about 2,500 buildings nationwide listed in the National Historic Landmarks Program. In October 2004, the building was closed for major renovations, which included converting the historic inn into a museum. The preservation project cost $3.1 million and required 18 months to complete. When the National Park Service reopened the inn on Memorial Day weekend during the park's 100th anniversary celebration, Rita Garcia was among the many thrilled to see the inn returned to its former glory. In her 10 years at Petrified Forest National Park, Ranger Garcia has come to love the oldinn, with its handcrafted natural materials and the way it blends into the landscape. She doesn't even care that it is haunted.

Herbert Lore, the inn's original owner, was more interested in making money than harboring ghosts. In 1924, Lore constructed what he called the Stone Tree House to serve Route 66 travelers on their way to the Petrified Forest. The National Park Service bought the inn in 1935, and in 1937, architect Lyle E. Bennett supervised a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) renovation of 28 rooms, including a trading post room, a taproom and a lunch counter. The enormous skylight and the decorative elements inspired by prehistoric pottery and Indian blankets display Bennett's mastery of light and color. Another renovation 10 years later added the aesthetic touch of architectMary Elizabeth Jane Colter, who was hired by Fred Harvey, the concessionaire for the inn. Known for designing striking buildings all along the Santa Fe Railway line, including Hopi House at the Grand Canyon, Colter contracted Hopi artist Fred Kabotie to paint murals on the inside walls.

Unfortunately, the historic building has structural flaws. Walls have cracked, water seepage threatens the Kabotie murals, and a layer of bentonite clay has caused the foundation to shift. The Park Service actually scheduled the inn's demolition in 1975, but a public outcry stopped the bulldozers, and renovations have turned it into a museum. Even so, things still go bump in the night.

"Old buildings talk," said Garcia. "They shift. They creak. They moan. You hear things."

One night in the 1980s after locking up for the evening, a park ranger looked back through the windows and saw someone inside walking from room to room. Irritated by what she thought was a wayward tourist, the ranger unlocked the door. Immediately, she smelled cigarette smoke. Now the ranger was royally peeved. Not only was this tourist in a closed government building; he had the gall to smoke in a museum! The angry ranger rushed from room to room, until she realized she was the only one in the building.

Another afternoon, Garcia heard someone coming up the flagstone steps from the old taproom. "It was footsteps on stone," she says, "but when I looked up to wave at the person coming up the stairs, no one was there."

Other employees have reported hearing whispered conversations from unoccupied rooms.

All of which prompts some to wonder if a certain cigarette smoker is lingering after closing time.

Marion Mace managed the inn for only a few months before she died. Oddly, information about her death and the fire is absent from local newspapers. Garcia suspects that park managers in charge at that time wanted to keep the death quiet.

If so, they failed. It seems that the tragic end of Mrs. Mace and the heroism of Ranger Harkins is a story the Painted Desert Inn doesn't want us to forget. Al

when you go

Getting There: From Flagstaff, take Interstate 40 east 115 miles to Exit 311; then go north on the park road. The Painted Desert Inn is 2 miles north of the entrance.

Hours: Daily 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; closed Christmas Day. Park gates closed at night.

Fees: $10 per vehicle.

Additional Information: Petrified Forest National Park, (928) 524-6228; www.nps.gov/pefo.