PARK CITY RESORT DUBS NEW BASE LODGE 'LEGACY'

By Jana McQuay
Deseret News staff writer

July 28, 1999
PARK CITY, UT -- "Legacy Lodge" will be the name of Park City Mountain Resort's 54,000-square-foot base-area lodge, scheduled for completion in mid-December.

The resort released the name Wednesday during construction of the new lodge adjacent to the PayDay lift where the old Steeps lodge existed until it was demolished in April, according to Melissa O'Brien, the resort's communications manager.

"The name 'Legacy Lodge' has a three-part historical significance," said Vern Greco, president and general manager of the resort.

The first historical tie targets Park City's silver mining heritage and how it evolved into a premier resort destination, Greco said.

The second highlights the Badami family's influence in establishing the resort as a world-class destination ski resort, Greco added.

Nick Badami purchased the earlier Park City Ski Area in 1975 and is currently chairman of Powdr Corp., the parent company of Park City Mountain Resort, O'Brien said. The majority of the resort's stock, however, is owned by John and David Cumming, she said.

The third historical reference is to the resort's ski racing heritage established by the Badamis with the Chevy Truck America's Opening World Cup Races, Greco said.

"Nick Badami's son, Craig Badami, is responsible for the America's Opening World Cup Races that put Park City Ski Area on the international map," O'Brien said.

Craig Badami was killed in a helicopter crash at the resort the day after the 1990 America's Opening World Cup Races, she said.

The racing heritage will continue as the resort serves as a 2002 Winter Games venue.

"The Legacy Lodge will be physically connected to Marriott's MountainSide Resort, a 183-unit vacation club complex," O'Brien said.

Both resorts worked together with San Francisco-based BSA Architects to blend the two projects in a compatible design reflecting the mining heritage of the town, O'Brien said.

A similar design is manifested in Marriott's Summit Watch Resort, located on Park City's lower Main Street adjacent to Park City Mountain Resort's Town Lift.

A food-court style restaurant and a new state-of-the-art ski and snowboard rental shop will be up and running when the Legacy Lodge opens in mid-December. "We have to open because the old Steeps Lodge has already been torn down — guests are coming and expect the dining option and rental facility," O'Brien said. "We are currently a week ahead of schedule."

In future seasons, the lodge will feature additional retail space and a private club.

New Star-Culp Construction of Salt Lake City is completing the Legacy Lodge.