Nonprofits Team Up to Replace Condemned Housing, Double Arches Staff Capacity

A condemned three-bedroom house that sat unusable inside Arches National Park since 2024 has been demolished, and two regional nonprofits are now designing a four-unit replacement that will roughly double staff housing capacity at the site. Friends of Arches and Canyonlands and the Canyonlands Natural History Association (CNHA) completed the demolition phase and moved into design, work that park leadership had described as the single most pressing obstacle to seasonal hiring at one of the most-visited parks in the Four Corners region.

The project landed on the nonprofit partners' agenda after NPS's 2026 construction budget for park housing was cut substantially compared to 2025, closing off any clear federal funding path to clear and replace the condemned structure. Both organizations had received a National Park Foundation Housing Catalyst grant the prior year, funding directed specifically at getting the condemned house cleared and replaced sooner than federal dollars would allow. That grant, established to help national park partners address staff housing needs, became the financial bridge that unlocked the project.

The replacement building will contain four units: two designed for single occupancy and two for double occupancy. Selecting the design moved quickly because the nonprofits worked from NPS-curated prototype templates rather than commissioning original plans. Steve Evers, executive director of Friends of Arches and Canyonlands, said the approach kept both costs and timelines in check.

"This is an example of how efficient the National Park Service can be, as we were able to choose a design from a selection of about a dozen different housing units tailored to fit the park staff housing needs," Evers said.

The urgency behind the project sharpened after Arches rescinded its timed-entry reservation system for 2026, a change expected to push peak visitation higher at a park already struggling to fill seasonal positions. Applicants have repeatedly cited the lack of available housing in the Moab valley when turning down those positions, and hiring for the coming season has not gone as planned. NPS has not indicated whether the timed-entry system could return after 2026.

Evers framed the housing shortage in direct terms: "Our organizations exist to support the national parks. If the park service cannot hire staff because there is no housing, many elements of the NPS mission are at risk, including their ability to provide an enjoyable visitor experience and protecting the natural and cultural resources of the park itself."

Doubling housed staff at the site is expected to strengthen ranger presence, visitor services, backcountry management, and interpretive programming. The model, using partner grant dollars to fill a federal budget gap on a targeted capital project, is already being watched as a potential template for other parks facing the same combination of housing pressure and constrained construction funding.