File:Snorkel Lifts Position Masons During 2010 Repointing of Desert View Watchtower -4319 - 26167949767.jpg

English: Distant exterior view of the top of the watchtower with two orange lifts positioning workers on either side of the tower observation deck. Foreground trees block the lower portion of the building.

Snorkel lifts were used to complete condition assessments prior to the renovations, and were used again during the renovations that took place during the spring of 2010.

Phase II of the 2010 Desert View Watchtower renovations involved repairing, known as “pointing”, masonry mortar joints and repair or replacement of windows and exterior wood elements. During this phase of the renovations, access to portions of the exterior of the tower were restricted in the immediate vicinity of heavy equipment and the ongoing repairs.

The Watchtower is located at Desert View, the eastern-most developed area on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the tower was constructed in 1932. Architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter’s design takes its influences from the architecture of the ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau. She collaborated on the design with Hope artisans of the day, including well-known Hopi artist Fred Kabotie whose murals adorn much of the second level of the tower.