Osage Nation Visitors Center Renovation

The Osage Nation Visitors Center Renovation is an ARPA-funded expansion of the existing 1,260sf Visitors Center retail space to fill the 3,924sf historic automobile service station in downtown Pawhuska. The remodeled interior provides for social distancing by doubling the capacity of the retail floor, providing a designated information center, and adding a lounge and coffee shop. 

Exterior improvements include door and window replacement, roof replacement, coffee shop drive-through, covered patio addition, and ADA sidewalks and entry. Energy conservation measures include a weather barrier and insulation of the existing brick walls, R-25 roof insulation, thermally broken window framing and insulated glazing, HVAC equipment and controls modernization, and all new LED lighting.

Our services included programming which helped the Owner focus the project’s vision. An employee workroom was added, and priorities were established for budget control. Construction costs were extremely volatile during design, so a menu of alternatives was developed to ensure that the Owner had a viable project at bid time. We reviewed the project estimate at each design milestone and responded by refining the material selections. We were mindful of the constructability issues around this existing building and provided a design that would quickly get the Visitors Center back in operation.