Working for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in collaboration with Chambless King Architects, Stick was charged with producing a comprehensive visioning package for the renovation and renewal of Cheaha State Park’s lodging and welcome facilities.

The completed report summarizes the process and results of a months-long site study and pre-design work, including: analysis of the existing site and facilities; studies of relevant site and architectural precedents; conceptual explorations of a reimagined Cheaha hotel and site layout; and a preliminary schedule and cost estimate for the project.

The report lays out a vision for a new hotel facility that fully leverages its extraordinary location atop Mount Cheaha - an existing motel structure that could live anywhere transformed into one that couldn’t live anywhere else. It establishes streamlined traffic patterns that allow intuitive, hassle-free access in and out of the park and between clearly defined nodes of activity. Accessible pedestrian pathways – set apart from vehicular traffic – draw visitors out of doors into an inviting landscape of natural materials featuring shade, a variety of seating, and gathering areas of different sizes. Continuity between buildings and outdoor spaces creates the sense of a vibrant, lived-in mountaintop village.

The completion of this report led directly into design of the new hotel, which is estimated to complete construction in late 2025/early 2026.