The Grand Canyon: Natural Wonder or the Next Great American Mall?

[ashling]

?itok=j0qRlnkT

Developers Confluence Partners want to make a 420-acre attraction out of the east rim, with a plan to put in an Imax theater, retail shops, hotels, an RV park, and a 1.6-mile-long gondola tram that would take riders from the rim of the canyon down 3,500 feet to the valley floor in about 10 minutes. Intentions for the valley floor include construction of a terraced “riverwalk” and a food pavilion.

Called the Escalade—try not think of the monster Cadillac SUV of the same name—the $100 million project’s tram would bring around 10,000 visitors a day to within yards of one of Native Americans’ most sacred and spiritually relevant sites.

Since Escalade was unveiled in 2012, the project has been dividing people. Some in the Navajo Nation argue it will bring much-needed jobs and revenue. Others say the sacred site must be preserved at any price.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/02/10/grand-canyon-natural-wonder-american-mall?cmpid=ait-fb

much more at the link

[yellowcanine]

1. Who is in charge or this project, James Watt?

He never turns down an opportunity to lay pavement or pour concrete in a national park.

[Brickbat]

7. Navajo Nation Hospitality Enterprises (NNHE), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navajo Nation.

[City Lights]

2. Disgusting idea!

[dissentient]

3. Next will follow humongous casinos, hotels, and parking lots

Yes, that would be poetic justice, turn one of America greatest natural wonders into another Las Vegas. America, what went wrong?

[Populist_Prole]

4. Oh for chrissake!

I could just see it now, a dozen years hence: Renamed the 'The Samsung Rift' or something like this.

Capitalist bastards.

[Sherman A1]

5. Pardon me for a moment

[glasshouses]

6. I would hate to see it but it's easy for me to say that living on the other side of the country.

I can also understand the point the Navajo Nation is making for it's people.


"Some in the Navajo Nation argue it will bring much-needed jobs and revenue."

[yellowcanine]

11. "Some in the Navajo Nation argue it will bring much-needed jobs and revenue."

Wonderful word, "Some." What percent is that? "Some" in Alaska want to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge also.

As for jobs, yes, it will bring some jobs. But what kind of jobs and how many and for how long? And will visitors keep coming to the area from all over the U.S. and the world in the same numbers they do now when it is turned into a mini version of Las Vegas and part of what makes the area attractive is gone for good?

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. Brilliant idea...

what with the exceptional southwest drought and all

[RiffRandell]

9. Saw this last week on GMA.

No WAY should or will it pass.

Can't we leave some pristine land alone?

Not when it comes to $$$$.

In the area of the state where I live is subdivision/strip mall/chain restaurant-ville.

There was a beautiful farm that was sold to a builder who is now putting up $400,000 houses that are packed in so close you can pass milk through a side window to your neighbor.

They'll sell like hotcakes, too.

[dilby]

10. I understand why they are doing it, don't agree but I understand.

The average visitor spends 2-3 hours at the Grand Canyon, buys a t-shirt then heads off to Vegas or Phoenix. By doing this it would make the Grand Canyon a destination spot and not a side trip on the way to a destination. I grew up in AZ, I have been to the Grand Canyon countless times but never for any extended time, probably never longer than an hour. We would sometimes stop there as a side trip on the way to see my grand parents in Tuba city, it would have been cool to actually spent a couple days there.

[closeupready]

13. Ooo, Tuba City! Not a grand place itself, but the area around town is

GORGEOUS. Almost extra-terrestrial.

[dilby]

14. Yep, never appreciated going there as a kid.

But now that I am an adult with my own kids, look forward to someday taking them there even though my grandparents have passed.

[closeupready]

12. Glen Canyon has been there and done that.