Worn chairlift forces Searchmont closure.The Chicago owner of the Searchmont Resort Searchmont Resort is a ski resort located in the community of Searchmont, Ontario, Canada. The area has over 700 vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding terrain. says the ski hill north of Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. will not be open for the 2005-2006 season due to much-needed safety upgrades and a lack of cash to do them. In a March 23 news release, Jack McDermott, a Chicago stock brokerage firm, cites the high cost of capital improvements required for the resort's triple chairlift and other facilities for withdrawing his financial support for ski operations. It is the second time in five years that the city's largest winter destination attraction has been in jeopardy. The news came as a surprise to Tourism Sault Ste. Marie chairman Bill Durnford, who attended a March 30 conference call with McDermott and other community stakeholders. "We had no indication this was coming about until the announcement came out," says Durnford. "We've had some discussions to confirm where his position was at ... and we're trying to look at some options to keep the ski operations going for next season, the details of which we don't have and wouldn't be at liberty to speak of yet." The privately owned ski hill is 40 kilometres northeast of the city and is regarded as one of the largest winter tourism destinations in Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it . Its estimated economic impact in the area is between $8 million and $12 million annually. McDermott was unavailable for comment at Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. press deadline. He said in a statement, Searchmont has not had a positive cash flow since he acquired the property out of receivership in 2002, but he maintains the resort is not in financial trouble and he has no interest in selling it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Costly repairs needed He also says the resort's triple chairlift requires extensive repairs due to metal fatigue metal fatigue Weakened condition of metal parts of machines, vehicles, or structures caused by repeated stresses or loadings, ultimately resulting in fracture under a stress much weaker than that necessary to cause fracture in a single application. , a problem he considers serious enough problem to pose a safety concern. He estimates the cost of a replacement chairlift at $3 million. "It does not make sense for us to make this kind of ... additional investment, given the resort's current financial circumstances." McDermott says he plans to move forward with other plans for other "less capital-intensive developments." Durnford, who is also general manager of the Holiday Inn, says McDermott did not elaborate what those activities may be during his conference call. "Our main interest as a hotel operator in town and chairman of Tourism Sault Ste. Marie with the industry group is (that) it is a major attraction for us through the winter months and we wouldn't want to see that let go unnecessarily. We do a lot of packaging and promoting of Searchmont." Though the Holiday Inn noticed a slight increase in skier visits, Durnford says feedback from other hotel operators indicated that ski packages and group sales Group sales Block sale (of large amounts) of securities to institutional investors. group sales The distribution of a new security issue to institutional clients. , especially from out-of-town skiers, were down "fairly substantially" this year, but he could not give specifics. Durnford also couldn't confirm if McDermott was trying to attract a private partner to run the ski hill separately or if the community is pursuing any public funding Public funding is money given from tax revenue or other governmental sources to an individual, organization, or entity. See also
"We may entertain something like that where the community would form a group began to look at some options. Again, a lot of due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. and detail has to be worked out. It must be a win-win situation for both parties." Dunford is also a board member of the Searchmont Ski Assocation, an ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. community group that rescued the resort after it went into receivership during July, 2000. The group raised more than $800,000 in cash for operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. through various government agencies, municipal partners, area businesses and supporters. The resort made $30,000 during the 2001-2002 season while the resort and ski hill were under receivership, until McDermott was named the new owner. www.searchmont.com By IAN ROSS Ian Ross is the name of:
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