Revelstoke resort faces money woes
REVELSTOKE, B.C. -- Financial troubles are slowing the work at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, the major new ski area that was opened last year. While the details are still being sorted out, marketing director Ashley Tait told the Revelstoke Times Review, the Nelson Lodge is still to be completed, but the timing has shifted. Some staff members have been shed.
Control of the project has been assumed by the Northland Properties Group, a Vancouver, B.C.-based company that invested a reported $10 million into the project a year ago. Previous control of the project had been held by Don Simpson, a Denver-based developer of housing.
"What you need to know is that we were overspent and in a very tough position," Rod Kesleer, chief operating officer, told the Revelstoke City council at an Oct. 27 meeting.
At Canmore, meanwhile, the $135 million Solar Resort & Spa has gone into receivership. Construction had stopped in September after the K2 Developments was unable to secure the final $3 million in financing. Of the 214 units, 50 remained for sale, sources told the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
B.C. resorts hunt for bigger, better airports
CRANBROOK, B.C. -- The ribbon has been cut on an airport at Cranbrook that is now bigger and better -- and beginning in December will have flights connecting to Salt Lake City, hub for Delta Airlines.
Tourism officials hope that Cranbrook becomes a major portal for the emerging resorts of the interior British Columbia. Resorts that may benefit include Revelstoke and Panorama, plus summer resorts in the lake-laden Kootenay region.
"The Kootenay region is only half a day away for more than 65 million travelers from the U.S. alone, and now, opportunities for overseas flights are increased as well," said Bill Bennet, the minister for tourism, culture and the arts in British Columbia.
The runway was extended by 2,000 feet, to 8,000, explains the Revelstoke Times Review. Terminal buildings are now able to handle international flights. The cost was $12.5 million, financed by local, provincial and federal governments.
Activists hunt for clear air, not smokers
JACKON HOLE, Wyo. -- Only two bars still allow smoking in Jackson Hole, but efforts continue to preclude smoking as a part of regulations governing food workers.
Activists insist they are not out to ban smoking -- only to allow the right of individuals to breathe safe, clean air. "Breathing is a right, not a privilege," writes Frieda Edgette, of the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.
She had written to the Jackson Hole News&Guide to object to a headline that described a "smoking ban." Her group, she said, is not out to ban smoking -- only to prevent others from having to breath the tainted air.
