along the rail line. During the winter of 1922-23, construction began on the new $461,000 Central Lodge and a number of new outlying bungalows designed by English architect Godfrey Milnes. The design of the Central Lodge used peeled logs on a fieldstone foundation, included lounges, dining room, snack room, kitchen, administrative offices, a large stone fireplace mounted animal heads, and was touted as the largest single-story log building in the world. The Central Lodge was built using logs from the construction site and others cut from the nearby Maligne Canyon, with planed lumber hardwood floors brought from out of the area by train, and red cedar from British Columbia for upright pillars. By 1925, Jasper Park Lodge consisted of over 50 log structures, and by 1927 there was accommodation for 425 guests. In 1927 and 1928, the central lodge was expanded more than doubling the size of the building, and more cabins were built around Lac Beauvert. Additional new cabins were built between 1928 and 1931, including the luxury cabins Point, Outlook and Viewpoint, and other small cabins lifting the hotel's capacity to 550 guests. King George VI and his wife Elizabeth visited Jasper during the 1939 royal tour of Canada, staying in the Outlook Cabin. 1940s and the Second World War Tourism in Jasper National Park grew significantly in 1940 as the Icefields Parkway connecting the park to Banff was completed. In 1939, 3,100 automobiles and 21,000 people were recorded entering Jasper National Park, which jumped to 19,000 automobiles and 83,000 people in 1940. The growth in tourism was short lived as Canada entered the Second World War, and Jasper Park Lodge closed to the public in fall of 1942 until spring of 1946 to contribute to the war effort. In the winter of 1943-44, Jasper Park Lodge was used as a winter training base for the Scottish Lovat Scouts special mountain troops. Many of the original log bungalows were replaced in the late-1940s through to the 1960s in a modernization program. 1950s and 1952 fire On July 15, 1952, a fire broke out at the Central Lodge, destroying the entire building. One employee who marshalled guests out of the building died as a result of burns. The fire believed to be started due to defective wiring, was discovered around 9 p.m. by an employee in the cloakroom, and attempts by the staff to contain the blaze with a