The Crowsnest Tourist Information Centre in the Bellevue teepee has been operating since June 21.

The teepee was built about 50 years ago for Blairmore’s iconic Sleepee Teepee Motel.

According to Pass Herald columnist John Kinnear, The Sleepee Teepee was a unique Western Canadian motel that included eight teepee units, a chuck wagon office, lawn sculptures and a memorable neon sign.

The Bellevue teepee now belongs to the Bellecrest Community Association and is located on its campground.

A roadside attraction, the teepee was last luring tourists into its angled walls for brochures and flyers during the summer of 2014.

That summer two paid teenagers staffed it. Last year the wheels fell off the covered wagon and the teepee’s flaps were closed but this summer it’s back in action thanks in no small part to Pass resident Art Garland.

Garland has been hard at work, sprucing up the teepee, supplying toiletries for the Bellevue campground’s toilet out of his own pocket and collecting data on who comes to visit.

“It brings people to the Pass and it promotes it,” said Garland from behind the teepee’s big wooden desk. “And people come in and ask what there’s to do here.”

According to his data, many dozens of people are showing up at the Bellevue campground to camp, sleep and admire the little Wayside Chapel. A few of them are even visiting the teepee.

Garland has been running the thing himself since its opening but he’s looking for a few conscientious volunteers to lend a hand.