Yellowstone National Park's New Old Faithful Visitor Center to Open August 25

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the new visitor center at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Among the exhibits is a working model of a geyser. NPS photos.

After two years of construction, the Old Faithful complex in Yellowstone National Park will once again have a permanent visitor center, one that offers glimpses into the park's geothermal engine.

The visitor center's arrival, to be celebrated with a grand opening on August 25, no doubt will be welcomed by park visitors curious about Yellowstone's hot water plumbing. One of the interactive exhibits will be a working model of a geyser.

The two-story structure replaces a cramped and outdated visitor center that was built in the late 1960s. That facility was razed between Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 to make way for the new facility, which was built to a Gold LEED certification standard as recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council. It qualified for that rating by using "sustainable elements in building location and construction, water conservation, use of sustainable materials, and indoor air quality," park officials said in a release.

The facility also was designed to set new standards for accessibility and for the interpretation of complex scientific information to the public, according to that release.

The environmentally friendly, $27 million, 26,000-square-foot facility was made possible in large part by a $15 million contribution from the Yellowstone Park Foundation. More than 400 individuals, foundations, and corporations made contributions to the foundation for the project, ranging from $2 to $3 million.

A dedication ceremony for the new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. on August 25.