Friday, February 29, 2008

Sun Valley swings for the green

New golf clubhouse, music pavilion on schedule to open in August


By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley Co.?s new music pavilion will play host to the Sun Valley Summer Symphony beginning in August. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is scheduled to perform during the month-long concert series. Photo by David N. Seelig

Despite this winter's heavy snowfall, Sun Valley Co.'s newest attractions are set to open to the public in August as scheduled.

Sun Valley spokesman Jack Sibbach said the resort's new golf/Nordic center is set to open Aug. 1, and the music pavilion, while it won't be 100 percent complete, will be far enough along to host this summer's Sun Valley Summer Symphony concert series, which begins Aug. 3.

"The weather always puts you back a little," Sibbach said. "But everyone's been working really hard out there, often under the lights."

Sibbach said that because of the timing for the pavilion's completion, the symphony's six concerts will be the only events held this year at the impressive new venue.

The 45,000-square-foot structure, located along Dollar Road just south of the resort's hockey rink, will feature 1,500 covered seats, plus an area for additional spectators, and a 6,000-square-foot stage. Construction began in July 2007.

The project, with an estimated construction cost of approximately $10 million, was designed by architects Nick Latham and Michael Bulls of Ketchum-based Ruscitto/Latham/Blanton Architecture. The pair took a conceptual design from Nic Goldsmith, renowned music and performing arts center designer, of FTL Design Engineering Studio in New York, and turned it into reality.

"I don't see the addition of the pavilion really affecting bookings at the resort this summer," Sibbach said. "Once we are able to add more events, we should see our numbers increase."

Sibbach said an entertainment director has been hired to coordinate events for the pavilion, and that all types of acts will be considered depending on how they fit into the summer schedule.

"We have to look at them both for the entertainment value and the room value," Sibbach said.

One event sure to draw a crowd this summer is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, scheduled to perform at the pavilion Aug. 9.

The resort also hopes to attract visitors with its enthusiastic approach to golf, exemplified by construction of the new golf/Nordic center, located on the southeast side of Trail Creek Road adjacent to the existing 18-hole golf course.

However, the building should attract more than just those there to hit the links.

The facility will be roughly 54,000 square feet. The main level would include a restaurant, lounge and bar with fireplaces, a golf pro shop, clubhouse locker rooms, storage and administrative offices. The lower level will feature a ski repair and rental area that opens up to the snow, an indoor golf practice facility and 136 spaces for golf cart storage. Upstairs will be two apartments, each approximately 700 square feet.

Also planned is an outside patio overlooking the putting green; it would feature a bar area and outdoor fireplace.

"This is one of the most spectacular buildings (resort owner) Earl Holding has built," Sibbach said. "The clubhouse will be a great multipurpose building where people can go and have lunch outside or watch sports at the bar. I'm also guessing a lot of people will want it as the location for wedding receptions."

These two projects, along with the new Gun Club 9 golf course, also under construction in the general vicinity, are getting an extra promotional push through a one-year contract with a golf-oriented publicity firm, which began in November.

The projects are part of an ongoing push by Sun Valley Co. to upgrade and expand facilities throughout the resort. Tens of millions of dollars have already been invested in renovating the resort's two hotels and upgrading facilities at the Dollar Mountain ski area. Improvements are also planned for the Bald Mountain ski area, adjacent to Ketchum.




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