A proposal for the redevelopment of LionsHead evolved out of the LionsHead Master Plan approved by the Town of Vail in 1998. The objective was to transform the redeveloped area into a first-class, destination mountain resort that captures the timeless Old World feel and ambiance of the finest European villages, while blending it into the distinctive character already established in Vail Village. The result was the recent unveiling of a redevelopment plan for the 2.27 acre core site of LionsHead...Vail Square.
Vail Square has been designed to include the following:
VAIL
In 1939 construction began on Highway 6, running from Denver through the Gore Valley. Charlie Vail, the project's engineer, lent his name to the road--Vail Pass--and eventually the Town of Vail.
During World War II, the Army's Tenth Mountain Division used the Vail area for backcountry survival training. After the war, many of the men who trained there were drawn back to the mountain valleys because of the recreational lifestyle. Pete Seibert, one of Vail's founding fathers, was one such veteran; he returned to the Valley along with fellow troopers Bill "Sarge" Brown and Bob Parker. The three vets shared a great vision of a mountain ski community modeled after the great alpine villages of Europe. In 1954, Earl Eaton, a uranium prospector with a similar vision, teamed up with Seibert to draw up a plan for a ski resort. The ski resort opened in December 1962, and by winter 1965, the Town of Vail was incorporated. Vail had the first gondola in the United States, along with two double chairlifts and a beginner poma lift, serving six square miles of terrain. Several restaurants, hotels and a medical clinic opened their doors soon thereafter.
Today Vail provides a lifestyle that combines one of the best alpine resorts in the world with a friendly, small-town feel. Vail offers an abundant array of recreational and cultural opportunities. Visitors and residents alike enjoy the 1,100 acres of open space accounting for 30 percent of Vail's town-owned land; 350,000 surrounding acres of national forest, crowned by 5,289 skiable acres on one of the largest and best mountains in the world, 15 miles of recreation paths, the highest botanical gardens in the world and an outdoor amphitheater.
THE DEVELOPER
Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development, construction, retail leasing and management subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. With over four decades of experience gained through creating an impressive list of private clubs and resort communities, Vail Resorts Development Company is a clear leader in the resort development industry. Projects in various stages of planning and development exist in Arrowhead, Avon, Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail and Wolcott, Colorado and Jackson, Wyoming.
Vail Resorts, Inc. is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly in California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Company also operates its subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company with 10 distinctive properties across the United States. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is
www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is
www.snow.com.
CONTACTS
Website:
www.newvail.com www.thearrabelle.com
Media contacts: Paul Witt, Vail Resorts Development Company, 970-845-2371, email
pwitt@vailresorts.com
