Wednesday, April 14, 2004

A farewell
to public tours?

TNC tables plan to open Hemingway’s house

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"Frankly, (the opposition has) gotten very hostile … We were the ones that were going to be directly in the line of fire"

— GEORGE PAMPUSH, The Nature Conservancy Idaho state director

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

The Ketchum home where acclaimed author Ernest Hemingway spent much of his final two years could remain closed to the public, unless the heirs of the property and a contingent of peace-seeking neighbors can find some common ground.

The rustic Ketchum residence of deceased writer Ernest Hemingway is currently off limits to the general public. The Idaho Hemingway House Foundation, led by the writer’s granddaughter Mariel Hemingway, is hoping to procure limited public access. Express photo by Willy Cook

The Nature Conservancy, the land-preservation organization that in 1986 inherited Hemingway’s Ketchum residence and surrounding land, has formally asked the city of Ketchum to table an application to permit a variety of uses at the site—including public tours.

Geoff Pampush, TNC Idaho state director, quietly made the request March 25 after determining that TNC should pursue negotiations with neighbors opposed to the plan before proceeding with a permit application submitted to the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission.

The surprising move came after the two sides in early March told city officials that they were engaged in productive meetings aimed at reaching an agreement.

"The neighbors are now saying to us they do not want public access to the home," Pampush said Monday, noting that the controversy has put TNC in a "very difficult place."

He added: "Frankly, it’s gotten very hostile."

At issue is the future of public access to the home of one of the United States’ greatest literary figures. Located northwest of central Ketchum off Canyon Run Boulevard, the rustic hillside house sits on 13 acres of pristine land overlooking the Big Wood River.

After purchasing the property in 1959, Hemingway made the house his permanent residence until July 1961, when he killed himself with a shotgun in the home.

Hemingway first visited Sun Valley in 1939. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, he wrote portions of his heralded novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" at the Sun Valley Lodge. He later wrote his memoir "A Moveable Feast" while residing in the Ketchum Korral motel.

Hemingway’s widow, Mary, in 1986 gave the family’s Ketchum property to TNC with instructions that it be maintained as a nature preserve.

In 2003, a group including part-time Ketchum resident Mariel Hemingway, the writer’s granddaughter, formed the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that reached a nonbinding agreement with TNC to manage the property.

Earlier this year, the foundation applied to the city for a conditional use permit to allow limited public access to the site. Plans called for public tours up to three times per day Monday through Saturday, restoring the home to its 1961 condition, developing a scholarly library, conducting writing workshops and establishing a writer-in-residence program.

In addition, the group requested a text amendment to the city’s Limited Residential district zoning regulations to make all of the proposed uses permissible by the city.

A group of Hemingway property neighbors vociferously opposed the plan when it was first proposed in January.

Canyon Run resident Jonathan Neeley said the plan could cause disruptive traffic on the access route to the Hemingway site, a private road owned by neighborhood homeowners.

At a second permit-review meeting March 8, foundation representatives and project opponents said they were close to reaching a compromise.

However, as negotiations started to break down, Pampush stepped in to announce that TNC would "assume the lead" on the project.

"We were the ones that were going to be directly in the line of fire," he said, noting that one neighbor has threatened to file a lawsuit to stop the public-access plan.

Pampush said Monday that he is planning to meet with the neighbors next week.

Neeley could not be reached for comment. Neighbor Joan Anderson declined to comment on the matter.

In January, Anderson and her husband Donald Anderson issued a letter to the city noting that they are opposed to plans that include public tours to the Hemingway House.

"These have occasionally occurred in the past and were quite disruptive," they wrote. "They are not compatible with a Limited Residential neighborhood."

For his part, Pampush said he believes the Hemingway property is appropriate for "some sort of public access." However, he said, TNC is "not taking a position on the nature of the programs" the foundation should ultimately develop.

"I’m hoping we can come to terms here," he said.

Terry Ring, a foundation board member, said this week that his group is hopeful it can reactivate its application for permission to access and use the property.

"For the time being we’ll have to wait it out, but we would like to move forward as soon as possible."

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