The News from Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns Unveils Ansel Adams Photos

Carlsbad Caverns National Park dedicated its newly renovated visitors center on the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the park as a national monument.

The event, held Oct. 25, included the opening of a new exhibit called Underground Visions: Carlsbad Caverns Through the Artist's Eye, featuring four original prints of the cave by famed photographer Ansel Adams.

Caverns new visitors' center near completion

CARLSBAD — Although the new visitors' center at Carlsbad Caverns National Park is functional and open to the public, there are still many items on the contractor's to do list, a park official said.

The visitors' center has undergone a $9 million renovation that started in May of 2007, and is now nearing completion.

"There are still a bunch of items that have to be corrected by the contractor," said John Benjamin, park superintendent, who stressed that "no matter what," the grand opening of the facility is still set for Oct. 25 — the 85th anniversary of the park's first designation as the Carlsbad Cave National Monument.

Power back on at Carlsbad Caverns National Park

After a couple of days of using generators at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, power was restored late Friday night, according to John C. Benjamin, park superintendent.

Wind gusts to 50 mph Thursday was blamed for the initial outage.

"Everything is back to normal out there," Benjamin said Saturday. He said Xcel crews were able to restore power to the park earlier than anticipated, with power restored at about 10:30 p.m. Friday.