NORTH CREEK -- The rusty skeletons of chairlifts creaked
back and forth in a chilly breeze Monday, dangling on a skinny wire
that hasn't carried a skier since 1976.
At the North Creek Ski Bowl, scattered ski tracks weave through
the snow around the old lift poles, shadowed by Gore Mountain. Even
on this unseasonably warm January afternoon -- seemingly perfect for
a quick ski -- not a soul is in sight, save a few maintenance
workers in the Town of Johnsburg's garage below.
For a video tour of the Ski Bowl, and an overview of the
project, click here.(Not working)
Though now a ghost of its former self, this neglected ski lift
is on the verge of resurrection. The town of Johnsburg is set to
turn it into a new, triple-chair lift that leads to the Ski Bowl's
intermediate and expert-level terrain, and ultimately, the trails at
Gore.
It's one part of an enormous effort to transform the Ski Bowl
from a quiet snow-tubing haven into a winter destination that rivals
the best ski resorts in the Northeast.
The Adirondack Park Agency will present the Ski Bowl expansion
project as an amendment to Gore Mountain's plan for future
development at a 9 a.m. meeting Thursday at APA headquarters in Ray
Brook.
Members of the public and other state agencies, such as the
Olympic Regional Development Authority, will be able to submit
comments on the project until Feb. 9, when the APA is scheduled to
form a consensus on the project, said ORDA spokesman Sandy Caligiore
said.
"We'll really have a barometer as to how the public feels about
a development like this in the Adirondacks," Caligiore said.
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The town of Johnsburg has already secured $800,000 in state and
federal funding to renovate the ski hut on the property and is now in
the process of applying for a $520,000 grant from the state Office of
Small Cities to build the triple-chair lift, said Town Supervisor
William Thomas.
Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, will watch for Ski
Bowl funding in the final budget of George Pataki's gubernatorial
career, to be revealed next week.
About $11 million is needed to build the larger lift that will link
the Ski Bowl with Gore Mountain.
Though she doubts the project will get its own line item, Little
was optimistic."It would be nice if it would," she said Tuesday.
A multimillion-dollar project that will sweeten the pot -- or in this
case, the bowl -- for the state is just months away from an Adirondack
Park Agency decision crucial to its future.
That $200 million private project, spearheaded by Mac Crikelair of
Fronstreet Mountain Development, would build 175 townhouses, 20
single-family homes, two inns, a member-exclusive lodge, an equestrian
center, a golf course and a restaurant at the Ski Bowl.
Ultimately, the private development and the ski lifts would give
people staying in homes or hotels at the Ski Bowl direct access to Gore
Mountain. They would be able to ski from the top of the mountain down
into the quaint, but struggling, hamlet of North Creek -- an
approximately 30-minute downhill run.
If the agency approves the project, it will set off a domino effect
of land swaps -- one of which includes property needed to build the
larger ski lift connecting the Ski Bowl to Gore.
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"We're ready to go forward," Thomas said. "But obviously (Crikelair)
needs his approval from the Park Agency to do his development before
anything can move forward."
Approval of the development guarantees the town will undergo a
revaluation sometime within the next two years. Residents already
wrestling with high property taxes worry they won't be able to
afford the taxes generated by the sharp increase in property values.
But Thomas believes the project will do more good than harm in
the end.
An impact study from the state Comptroller's Office showed that
linking Gore Mountain with the Ski Bowl could bring as much as $45
million into the region's economy. Thomas and Town Councilman
Sterling Goodspeed said the Ski Bowl project could initially provide
as many as 300 new jobs.
APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the project is already in
good standing with the agency, after some "cooperative"
pre-application meetings.
The APA expects to receive the application sometime within the
next month and could take up to three months after that to approve
or deny the project.
"We've been working very well together," McKeever said. "I
can't say we're going to rubber-stamp it, but there's been a very
good relationship with the applicant and the town on the project."
Gov. George Pataki did visit the North Creek Ski Bowl last July
and praised the development project, but he made no formal funding
pledge.
No applications for state money have yet been submitted.
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