Team Navigates Remote Conditions in Offseason of the Park
October 21, 2025 – Yellowstone National Park, WY — The Encore Electric service team in Montana recently remodeled the saloon in the Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone National Park. Working in a remote national park during the offseason and updating a historic building required the service team to adapt and navigate several unique obstacles. For this renovation, Encore Electric provided demolition, made safe existing fixtures and circuits, a new LED lighting package, and new branch circuits from existing panels.
The historic Roosevelt Lodge building was originally built in the 1920s. The lodge and nearby cabins, built from unpeeled logs, reflect the rustic architecture style from that time period. A challenge the service team encountered during the remodel was following the strict requirements of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. These guidelines ensure that any updates preserve the building’s historical integrity, materials, and character-defining features.
“The challenge was that we were not allowed to alter any of the original historic components of the building. The goal was to seamlessly integrate our modern fixtures and updated circuitry into the original historic features of the building,” said Justin Patterson, assistant project manager.
Modern electrical materials need to be installed in a very specific way and it can be difficult to integrate with old systems. Integrating these modern materials with the rustic building required the service team to be creative and bring various tools and equipment in case a different approach was required when installing material.
In addition to navigating the historic building remodel restrictions, the team was faced with another challenge – working in a remote national park. According to the National Park Service, the national park welcomed approximately 4.34 million people in 2024, with the majority visiting in the summer months. Every year, the number of visitors dramatically decreases during the cold winter season.
“This project was extremely remote. Its location was two and a half hours away from our Belgrade, Montana office and not within any range of our material vendors,” Patterson said. “This led to the project team taking extra precautions when doing material take-offs and ensuring that our team was planning ahead for any possible unforeseen material needs to keep us on track.”
“The project was done in the offseason of the park, so our employees were given access to a locked gate to enter into the park. With the park being closed, there were no other people and no services including no cell service,” said Bill Frye, director of the Montana business unit.
Not having phone service required the service team to provide project reports once they were back at their hotel in Gardiner, Montana – the closest town to Yellowstone National Park. During peak park season, Gardiner is bustling with visitors filling the streets, restaurants, and shops. However, in the offseason – when the project team was remodeling the saloon – Gardiner becomes a ghost town. On many occasions, the team struggled to find food after a long day because restaurants and grocery stores were closed.
Photo Credit: NPS/Neal Herbert
The team was made up of Service Technician Cody Boese and Apprentice Nick Bonenfant who both went above and beyond the call of duty on multiple occasions to ensure the Roosevelt Lodge project was successfully completed.
Boese and Bonenfant both live and work in Montana, but this project fell into the state of Wyoming. For the Encore Electric team to be able to update any of the electrical systems, one teammate needed to have their Wyoming journeyman license. Boese studied for the state test, and soon after acquired his Wyoming journeyman license. While Boese was studying for his test, Service Technician Patrick Shanahan drove up from Cheyenne and assisted on the Roosevelt Lodge project.
Bonenfant, on the other hand, was in school to get his journeyman license and had classes every Wednesday at Montana Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) in Bozeman.
“Nick would drive back to Bozeman so he could attend his IEC classes and then the next morning leave really early to get back to Yellowstone National Park,” said Werner Schlichter, account manager. “He basically did five hours of driving once a week so he could attend his schooling. To me, that shows a lot of dedication to Encore Electric.”
Photo Credit: NPS/Diane Renkin
“It was a fun project but had to be planned well to avoid missing material or having to miss a task, considering there was no service or supply house. It had new challenges but nothing we couldn’t handle from day to day,” Boese said.
What also came with working in a national park was the curious wildlife and difficult driving conditions. Due to the park being closed for the majority of the work, the roads leading in and out were not well maintained and the team commuted through snowy and icy conditions.
“There were times they said they came around a corner; they were locked up on the breaks and sliding because there was a bison in the road,” Patterson said.
Photo Credit: NPS/Diane Renkin
At Encore Electric, keeping project teams, trade partners, owners, and the general public safe is a top priority. One of the ways teammates keep themselves safe on jobsites is by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), which includes steel toed boots, helmet, safety glasses, and gloves. While working in Yellowstone National Park, one of the items added to the traditional PPE was bear spray because the park is home to grizzly and black bears. On numerous occasions, teammates saw wildlife like bison and bears.
“We have a good team up here in Montana – regardless of whether they work in service, special projects, or construction – everybody looks out for each other,” Schlichter said.
“Between getting licensing, continuing schooling, being willing to go and live out of a hotel for a week, they never once pushed back or never once did they feel as though this project wasn’t important enough for that,” Patterson said. “This team went out there, and they did an incredible job with getting everything done on schedule. It really is a testament to their adaptability to rise to any kind of project that’s given to them.”