A project to restore the storefront of an iconic Petrified Forest National Park building has been completed, a group involved with the project announced this month.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation says the Oasis Building project removed "inappropriate alterations" made to the building's storefront decades ago, and that the building once again features unobstructed views of the Painted Desert Community Complex courtyard.
A $150,000 grant from American Express helped to fund the project, which comes on the heels of the complex being named a National Historic Landmark earlier this year.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey says the partnership between the trust, American Express and the National Park Service is "a national model for how we can leverage public-private partnerships to preserve our most significant heritage assets."
According to the trust, the complex is the last remaining Park Service facility designed by Richard Neutra, a prominent Austrian-American architect and a leader of the Modernist movement.
In the past few years, the trust has also worked to restore the striking original paint colors on several buildings at the complex, and enlisted the help of a California-based preservation consulting firm to provide expertise on other restoration projects there.
To learn more about the Painted Desert Community Complex, click here.