National Park Service: Assessment of Design and Construction Program
Since its creation in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) has experienced sustained growth in holdings and visitation, and a concomitant expansion of facilities and infrastructure. The NPS construction program encompasses the major facility and infrastructure development activities of the National Park system. The Denver Service Center (DSC) has a dominant role in implementing the program. The Academy previously conducted two studies of the NPS design and construction program. The first of these studies, in 1998, set forth eleven findings and recommendations to improve the efficiency of the program. The second study, in 2002, assessed NPS progress on implementing the recommendations from the 1998 report and found that substantial progress had been made. The program’s leaders believe, however, that it would now benefit from an expert independent review of its current practices to ensure they align with current best management practices with the potential to promote cost-efficiency, timeliness, and high-quality delivery of NPS construction projects.
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Final ReportProject Description
The Academy Panel and study team reassessed the NPS’s major construction program with a focus on the role of the Denver Service Center and the NPS Construction Program Management Division. The assessment included, but was not limited to:
- Whether NPS’s design and construction costs are in line with comparable projects;
- Whether DSC’s design and construction process and contracting methods are in
line with industry standards and the processes used by other government
agencies;
- Whether DSC is employing the best management practices to deliver highquality
projects, appropriate to the NPS mission, as cost-effectively as possible;
and
- Whether DSC is appropriately resourced to carry out its mission.
The Academy’s assessment concluded in June 2020.
Panel Members
Mortimer Downey*, Chair; President, Mort Downey Consulting LLC. Former Principal Director and First Vice Chair, Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority; Senior Advisor, Parsons Brinckerhoff; Mort Downey Consulting, LLC.; Chairman, Pb Consult, Inc.; Deputy Secretary, U.S.
Department of Transportation. Former positions with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York): Assistant Executive Director for
Management and Budget; Deputy Executive Director for Capital Programs; Executive Director; Chief Financial Officer. Former Assistant Secretary
for Budget and Programs, U.S. Department of Transportation; Budget Priorities Analyst, Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives;
increasingly responsible positions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Deborah Lucas*; Director, Golub Center for Finance and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sloan Distinguished Professor of Finance,
Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Assistant Director, Financial Analysis Division, Congressional Budget Office;
Associate Director of Financial Studies, Congressional Budget Office; Professor of Finance, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology; Donald C. Clark HSBC Professor of Consumer Finance Department of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern
University; Member, Social Security Technical Advisory Panel; Chief Economist, Congressional Budget Office; Member, Social Security Technical
Denis Galvin*; Former Associate Director for Planning and Development, National Park Service; Deputy Director, National Park Service; Manager,
Denver Service Center; Associate Regional Director for Operations, National Park Service
Greg Giddens*; Partner, Potomac Ridge Consulting, LLC; Executive Director, Office of VA Modernization, Office of Enterprise Integration,
Department of Veterans Affairs; Chief Acquisition Officer, Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, Department of Veterans Affairs;
Executive Director, Enterprise Program Modernization Office, Office of Policy and Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs; Executive Director,
Facilities Management and Engineering, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security; Executive Director, Secure Border
Initiative, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security; Executive Director, Secure Border Initiative.
Donald Bathurst*; Former Executive Director for Emergency Preparedness, Management Directorate, Department of Homeland
Security; Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary, Management Directorate, Department of Homeland Security; Director & Chair, Board
of Directors, Senior Executives Association; Chief Administrative Officer, Management Directorate, Department of Homeland Security;
Director, Asset Management, Management Directorate, Department of Homeland Security; Director, Facilities Management and
Services Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency; Deputy Associate Director, Operations Support Directorate.
William Seed; Senior Vice President, Facility Design & Construction at Jackson Health System in Miami, FL. In that position he
provides leadership for a $1.5 Billion capital program delivering 6 Signature Projects in 4 years including 2 new full service specialty
hospitals renovating 4 existing hospitals to enhance service as the Miami-Dade County safety net health care provider.
*Academy Fellows
