Resort unveils master plan

A master plan outlining Big Mountain Resort growth for the next two decades goes before the Whitefish City-County Planning Board tonight for its first formal public hearing.

The Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.

Winter Sports Inc., the corporation that operates the Whitefish ski resort, has spent the past several months refining its 1992 master plan through a series of informal meetings with the public, homeowners associations, the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and various civic organizations.

"We've had constructive public input," said Fred Jones, president and chief executive officer of Winter Sports.

The core of the plan is a retail and lodging plaza at the bottom of Chair 1. Instead of concentrating lodging into one big resort hotel and convention center, the new plan breaks up the hotel offerings into about 10 buildings, most of which would be in the current parking lots below the village area. One building in that area would provide meeting space and a recreation center with a swimming pool. An outdoor skating rink also is planned.

Jones said he envisions conference space for 150 to 200 people, though the footprint on the master plan for a conference center is much larger.

"The reality is the market will determine how big it will be," he said.

Chair 2 would be rebuilt to the east of its current alignment so it also would connect with the plaza area. A small hotel east of the Chair 1 base is planned as part of the plaza, and retail shops would be built with lodging units above them.

Winter Sports' planning team was directed to design smaller buildings after an 80-unit hotel was rejected by the City Council because the building's massive size obstructed some residents' views.

Public concerns have run the gamut, Jones said, from cross-country skiers wanting an expanded trail system to Moose Run homeowners worried about too much traffic on their subdivision road. The proposed master plan expands the cross-country system, and Jones said a loop road should alleviate congestion on roads serving neighborhoods.

The loop road would wind through the village, across the Chair 6 slopes below Chair 4, connecting to the Glades, the existing Outpost and back to Big Mountain Road.

There also is concern about retaining the relationship between the resort and the city of Whitefish.

"Many people stressed the importance of the connection between Big Mountain and Whitefish," Jones said, adding that the resort will continue to rely on Whitefish facilities such as restaurants, motels and retail stores.

"The [ski resort] village won't be a shopping Mecca," he said. "We've designed the master plan to be complementary to Whitefish, not competitive."

Maintaining the character of the older buildings at the resort is also important to many who attended the public work sessions. Big Mountain Chalet, the oldest building at the resort and home to the popular Hellroaring Saloon, would be demolished, but historic memorabilia from the restaurant and chalet will be incorporated at the plaza level. The building housing the Bierstube, another popular bar, also would be removed.

Because the plan for multiple lodges eliminates most of the upper-level parking, skiers would park in lots below the Outpost day lodge. Chair 6 is destined to be realigned and rebuilt as a high-capacity pedestrian lift, with gondolas to accommodate skiers and nonskiers.

Jones said a few homeowners on the mountain have said they'd rather have a chairlift so they don't have to take off their skis.

"We haven't even met with lift manufacturers to know what our options are," Jones added.

Hines, the international resort corporation that partnered with Winter Sports for a few years and proposed a $300 million resort makeover, ended its relationship with the resort a couple of years ago.

The new master plan is nowhere near as grandiose as the one Hines envisioned, Jones said. He hasn't put together cost estimates for the master plan, but rebuilding chairs 2 and 6 will cost upwards of $10 million, and the rebuild of the Outpost Day Lodge and expansion in that area costs another $10 million.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.