Grand Canyon changes budget to repay $100M loan
Grand Canyon changes budget to repay $100M loan
By FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press | September 24, 2014 | Updated: September 24, 2014 2:50pm
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Grand Canyon is imposing millions of dollars in cuts to make a concessions contract more attractive to bidders.
The cuts include cave monitoring, parking lot lighting, a children's nature program and preventative search and rescue.
Grand Canyon Superintendent Dave Uberuaga says the money from those projects and others will help repay a $100 million loan from the National Park Service.
Grand Canyon borrowed the money to reduce what is owned to current concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts for improvements it made at the South Rim over the years.
Uberuaga said potential bidders on the contract to provide services at the South Rim had balked at paying more than $150 million upfront to Xanterra to compensate for its improvements.
By reducing that amount to $57 million, Uberuaga said he is hopeful the 15-year contract worth about $1 billion in gross revenue will become more competitive.
Uberuaga said funding for preventative search and rescue on Grand Canyon trails, patrols on the Colorado River and the children's nature program will be reduced next year. Some vacant positions won't be filled, and work to replace decades-old water pipelines that run across the canyon might be delayed.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Grand-Canyon-changes-budget-to-repay-100M-loan-5777840.php
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