It will cost an additional $2 for adults to enter the reconstructed Fort Vancouver in 2018, with the individual admission fee increasing to $7.
This fee increase only affects the reconstructed stockade site, 1001 E. Fifth St.
Facilities that will remain free of charge include the Visitor Center, Pearson Air Museum, the Vancouver Barracks grounds, the Land Bridge and all the events and living history re-enactments held outside the stockade.
The McLoughlin and Barclay houses at the historic site’s McLoughlin House Unit in Oregon City, Ore., will also remain free to visit.
The fee increase will help Fort Vancouver maintain its facilities, add to its attractions and enhance visitor services.
“The money from the fee stays in the park,” Matthew Klozik, administrative officer at Fort Vancouver, said.
The money supports basic upkeep such as roof maintenance on buildings within the stockade. It also has funded new projects. On the Parade Ground on the south side of Officers Row, “the bandstand was paid for by fees that were collected,” Klozik said.
Money from the fees also help fund new exhibits and displays at Pearson Air Museum.
The admission fees generate about $55,000 annually at Fort Vancouver, Klozik said.
The entrance fee allows visitors to re-enter the fort stockade for seven days. Admission will continue to be free for children 15 and younger.
The park’s annual pass remains at $30 in 2018, and will continue to admit four adults.
The new fee will take affect on Jan. 2. (National Park Service sites will be closed on New Year’s Day.)
Fort Vancouver is one of 417 units in the National Park Service; 118 charge entrance fees.
The fee increase is part of a larger National Park Service initiative. At 17 high-profile destinations, including Washington’s Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, officials are proposing surge pricing.
Fees would increase from $25 per car to $70 per car during a park’s busiest five-month period.
