Moving a used gondola system from Austria to Juneau’s ski area is going to cost a lot more than initially estimated.
, Mayor Beth Weldon has been noncommittal. Wednesday’s special Assembly meeting was no exception.“We would be in a very difficult position, having spent a lot of money to purchase and own a gondola on another continent without the funds to move it,” replied City Manager Rorie Watt. “So, I don’t exactly know what we would do. … I cannot think of a good outcome.”
The city had solicited contracts to store the gondola in Europe for potential resale, an option the Assembly wanted in case it decided to abandon the project. But according to Eaglecrest Ski Area General Manager Dave Scanlan, no one bid on that contract.Assembly members Carole Triem and Alicia Hughes-Skandijs voted no. Hughes-Skandijs acknowledged her vote didn’t make sense given the situation.
“But even so, I can’t in good conscience put more public money towards a project that I don’t feel like we should have in the first place,” she said. “I feel like it’s a bad route for the city to go. I further feel that it was a bad process that we followed.”in February, outside of the Assembly’s normal process for prioritizing competing requests for big-ticket projects.
The contract to ship it from Pruggern, Austria, to Eaglecrest Ski Area will cost $845,000, more than double the initial estimate of $400,000. The contract award passed without objection. The system weighs several hundred tons and will take more than Eaglecrest officials say the gondola will serve winter and summer patrons. The tower placements being considered would make more winter terrain accessible for downhill and Nordic skiers.
Ski area officials foresee revenue from summer visitors eventually eliminating the ski area’s need for local taxpayer support.
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