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Ogden, UT
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The Snowbasin Nature Center was designed for the USDA Forest Service to welcome visitors to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. It is located in the base lodge at the Snowbasin Ski Area, site of the Olympic downhill venue. The exhibits communicate the diversity of landscapes in northern Utah, orient visitors to the recreation opportunities in the region, explore local history, and help visitors understand how the lands are managed in a public/private partnership between the Forest Service and the ski area operator.
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Among the challenges faced by the creative team were coordination of the visitor center design with the architectural themes of the lodge, and conceptually linking the visitor center themes with new exhibits at Ogden’s Union Station and the Naturewatch 2002 Loop Tour, which is a self-guided tour of twelve wildlife-viewing sites in and around the Ogden Valley.
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EDA Products and Services
• interpretive planning and space planning
• exhibit design and engineered implementation drawings
• design for a series of wayside kiosks linking the visitor center with wildlife-viewing sites and other Forest
• Service interpretive opportunities within a half of a day’s drive
• interpretive text
• fabrication and construction budgeting
• design and engineering of interactive elements, including audio and video
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Project Highlights
• coordination of visitor center architectural elements with the lodge design, including etched glass windows, rustic log posts, and fine cabinetry
• two dioramas featuring avian predators
• topographic relief map of the region
• morphing video mural showing the change of the seasons
• riparian diorama featuring carved insects and fish
• development of fund-raising strategy and marketing materials to bring partners such as Trout Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation on board the Loop Tour project
• planning and design of twelve thematically-linked wayside kiosks with three signs each
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EDA staff worked closely with Forest Service personnel to develop an integrated interpretive plan for the Snowbasin facility , Ogden’s Union Station, and the Naturewatch 2002 Loop Tour.  The team designed a combination map-viewing/map-storage case to solve an ongoing space problem at Union Station, created several traditional lightboxes for the Forest Service visitor center at the historically-significant train depot, planned and designed the wildlife-viewing tour, and developed marketing materials that Forest Service personnel used to present the Loop Tour concept to potential donors in addition to planning and designing the visitor center exhibits at Snowbasin.
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