A recently completed $16.5 million renovation of the 1907 “double infantry” barracks building on the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site retains its pleasingly vintage vibe. Although the building has a new roof, new parking, new sidewalks and accessibility features, the upgrades preserved the exterior’s historical appearance. For example, a long, gentle wheelchair ramp up to the front deck is partially masked from view. The inside includes a new elevator, heating/cooling and plumbing systems, fire suppression, telecommunications infrastructure and overall seismic stabilization. Lead paint was removed, too. Amid all that newness, the building’s signature 1907 features and ornamentation have all been preserved, including covered porches, pressed tin ceilings, plaster walls and columns, wood floors and historic windows and doors. “Our primary job is preservation and restoration of these important properties in perpetuity for the American people,” said Tracy Fortmann, superintendent of the Fort Vancouver site. Fortmann said the remodeling project included a vast amount of deferred maintenance on the 33,000-square-foot structure.

Funding for the three-year project came from the federal government through the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, a pandemic-era law that pumped billions of dollars into national parks with unmet maintenance needs. The work was performed by Pacific Tech Construction, a company based in Kelso. “There was a lot to do, and you never know what you’re going to find until you get in there,” Fortmann said, “but the bones of this building are really good.” The remodeled barracks building — known as Building 993 — is the easternmost of four large U-shaped structures on the southwest side of the Fort Vancouver Parade Grounds. Collectively known as the Vancouver Barracks, the four buildings rose during a period of rapid construction in the earliest 20th century to accommodate increasing numbers of arriving troops. At the time, Vancouver’s U.S. Army base was considered the most important military post in the Pacific Northwest, according to the National Park Service. The U.S. Army handed over all its fort property to the National Park Service in 2012.

Local folks are familiar with the grand mansions of Officers Row, which line the northern end of the Parade Grounds. But few Vancouver residents have ever considered that this row of soldier dormitories — the buildings facing the Parade Grounds from the south — really ought to be known as “Barracks Row,” Fortmann said. “It’s where the enlisted men who really made the Army run used to live,” Fortmann said. “It’s an iconic building that really brings their stories to life.” The public hasn’t been able to get too familiar with the “Barracks Row” buildings, Fortmann said, because of the lack of accessible sidewalks along McClellan Road. That’s been remedied, and folks are welcome to explore the grounds, she said. Building 993 is where as many as 180 infantrymen used to sleep, eat, work and socialize, Fortmann said. But now, it’s where approximately 100 employees of two sister federal agencies have already started moving into stylish new office space.

The west side of the building is now occupied by the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The east side is occupied by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (All three of these on-site agencies — the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and U.S. Fish & Wildlife — operate under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of the Interior.) “It’s a dream come true,” said Dave Clark, regional business adviser for U.S. Fish & Wildlife. The agencies’ local employees have been working in an anonymous office building near the Lloyd Center in Portland. “Our folks are gushing,” Clark said. “We are giddy about this.” The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ side of the building includes an attractive meeting room that can be repurposed as an art gallery for public and tribal events, said Sean Johnson, advisor to the BIA director. A remodel of the westernmost of these “Barracks Row” buildings was completed years ago, and serves as headquarters for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The two buildings in between are also ripe for remodel, Fortmann said, but no plans have been approved yet.