Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
Architect: Saunders Architecture
Location: Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine
Type: Monument, Visitors Center
Year: 2025
Photographs: James Florio
The following description is courtesy of the architects. Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.
Tekαkαpimək is a Penobscot language word for “as far as one can see”, pronounced deh gah-gah bee
mook. Architectural, landscape and exhibition designs for Tekαkαpimək resulted from a process between
Elliotsville Foundation, representatives of the Wabanaki Nations, Saunders Architecture, Reed
Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture, WeShouldDoItAll, Tuhura Communications, Erin Hutton Projects,
and the National Park Service. The design process began in 2019 and construction will be completed in
2024, with public hours to be announced. Early visitation opportunities have been organized for August
17th and 18th, 2024.
Tekαkαpimək’s waysides and exhibits orient visitors to the monument, inspiring them to experience
Katahdin Woods and Waters from its peaks, trails, and rivers to its ever-changing foliage, brilliant night
sky, and abundant wildlife. Interpretation is through a Wabanaki lens in a contemporary context,
honoring the past and showing vibrant communities moving sustainably into the future. All Wabanaki
Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki
Nations – the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot
Nation.
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Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument spans 87,563 acres in north-central Maine.
Tekαkαpimək lies at its southeastern corner. The contact station building features vistas across the
expanse of the monument to Katahdin and up the East Branch of the Penobscot River while hidden from
paddlers below. An eastern lookout and gathering circle allow visitors to greet the day’s first light,
reflecting traditions of the “People of the Dawn” and providing views to all Wabanaki homelands.
Handicapped parking and pedestrian routes throughout the site are designed to make areas accessible.
State-of-the-art green technology in the building demonstrates a significantly reduced carbon footprint
relative to other buildings of its scale. Tekαkαpimək utilizes local materials in every possible instance, is
fully off-grid, solar and thermal powered, and maximizes passive design strategies for heating and
cooling. Innovative use of nominal lumber casts a light on the emerging sustainable bio-economy.
Funded through a capital campaign by Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, Tekαkαpimək will be
donated to the American people and operated by the National Park Service. Lead philanthropic support
comes from Elliotsville Foundation, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, Burt’s Bees, National Park
Foundation, L.L. Bean, NorthLight Foundation, and an Anonymous supporter, among many other
generous contributors.
All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations.
Project Credits
- Wabanaki Advisory Board:
- Natalie Dana-Lolar, Passamaquoddy/Penobscot
- John Dennis, Mi’kmaq
- James Eric Francis, Sr., Penobscot
- Nick Francis, Penobscot
- Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy
- Jennifer Gaenzle, for Mi’kmaq
- Suzanne Greenlaw, Maliseet
- Newell Lewey, Passamaquoddy
- Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot
- Kendyl Reis, for Mi’kmaq
- Richard Silliboy, Mi’kmaq
- Donald Soctomah, Passamaquoddy
- Chris Sockalexis, Penobscot
- Isaac St. John, Maliseet
- Susan Young, for Maliseet
- Indigenous Intellectual and Cultural Property (ICIP) Consultant:
- Dr. Jane Anderson
- ENRICH (Equity for Indigenous Research and Innovation Co-ordinating Hub)
- Design Architect – Norway: Todd Saunders, Saunders Architecture
- Architect of Record – USA: Alisberg Parker Architects
- Structural Engineer: Atelier One
- Surveyor, Civil Engineer, and Structural Engineer of Record: Haley Ward, Inc
- Landscape Architect: Reed Hilderbrand
- Construction Management: Wright-Ryan
- Environmental & Energy Consultant: Transsolar Inc
- Interpretive Planning: Tūhura Communications
- Exhibit Writer: Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot
- Documentarians:
- James Eric Francis, Sr., Penobscot
- Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy
- Specialty Photography: James Florio
- Exhibits, Wayfinding & Signage Design: WeShouldDoItAll (WSDIA)
- Exhibition Fabrication: Split Rock Studios
- Signage Fabrication: DCL
- Site Work and Road Construction: Emery Lee & Sons Inc.
- Landscape Site Work: OBP Trailworks, LLC
- Creative Program Management: Erin Hutton Projects
- Project Management and Owner’s Representative: Stern Consulting International
