Juneau Assembly moves to halt city’s role in Eaglecrest gondola, repay Goldbelt’s investment
- Mark Sabbatini
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
6-3 Finance Committee vote Wednesday still needs full Assembly OK; repayment will cost at least $9 million, but proceeding deemed far more costly
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
This story has been corrected to note the cost to the city to abandon the gondola project is at least $9 million, not more than $18 million as originally reported.
The Juneau Assembly took a first step toward ending the city’s involvement with a gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area, with the Finance Committee voting 6-3 to refund $10 million that Goldbelt Inc. provided for the lift and have the resort’s board of directors see if other investors are interested in taking over the project.
The action is preliminary because the full Assembly must approve abandonment of the gondola at a meeting that includes public testimony. Some Assembly and Eaglecrest officials noted some financial details are still unknown and a favorable turn of events — including what Goldbelt might decide during a board meeting Friday — may allow continuation of a project many have seen as the key to profitable year-round operations.
But a majority of members at Wednesday’s meeting decided the cost of walking away from the gondola — about $9 million — is far less than proceeding with a project that is much costlier than projected. That total doesn’t include $2.7 million in city funds already invested in the project, but the city may be able to recover some money by selling the gondola and/or entering into an agreement involving its operations at the city-owned ski area.
Eaglecrest officials say the total cost of proceeding with the gondola could reach $37 million, not including further support upgrades at the ski area such as mountaintop concessions and other facilities. However, supporters say the gondola could turn a money-losing resort into one with a net income of $5 million annually by 2031 — although questions have been raised about whether the used gondola might need replacing 20 years from its opening date.
Eaglecrest board chair Brandon Cullum, in an interview after the vote, said the decision was "not completely unexpected," but still has hopes the gondola and/or Eaglecrest’s expansion into year-round tourism can proceed in some fashion.
"It's a great opportunity," he said. "I mean these numbers pencil out, and there are other opportunities that pencil out, and I think the community is really interested in Eaglecrest. We get 1.7 million cruise ship visitors a year, right? Lots of people make that work. So I think it's just a matter of, like a couple of people said tonight, getting professional help, and framing our presentation in a way that's attractive and competent, and just seeing if anyone out there wants to take advantage of the opportunities we have."
Eaglecrest’s board of directors is scheduled to discuss the next steps in the gondola and the ski area’s operations at a board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Assembly Chambers.
Assembly members, following their vote on the gondola’s fate, approved by a 5-4 vote a schedule calling for introducing an ordinance ending the city’s involvement with the gondola at an Assembly meeting April 29, discussing it during a Committee of the Whole meeting May 4, and having a public hearing and possible vote at a regular Assembly meeting May 18.
The city will have to pay interest on the $10 million provided in 2023 by Goldbelt — a total of $12,045,720 if paid on May 1 — if the Assembly cancels an agreement that requires the gondola to be completed by May of 2028. Craig Dahl, a special projects manager for the City and Borough of Juneau, told Assembly members on Wednesday that it is no longer possible to make that deadline.
The city also would face about $300,000 in other walkaway costs, for a total of about $12.3 million, Dahl said. However, there is $3.3 million remaining in funds allocated to the project — including Goldbelt’s — making the net payout about $9 million.
Two key pieces of information expected during Wendesday’s meeting were not provided: 1) an official "guaranteed maximum" installation cost from the contractor hired for the project and 2) Goldbelt’s inclinations toward extending the deadline of its agreement with the city, perhaps in exchange for considerations such as a greater share of the gondola’s profits or taking over a fuller range of operations at the ski area.
Goldbelt’s board of directors is expected to meet Friday to consider the issue. Dahl said healthy operations at Eaglecrest are a motivating factor for the Alaska Native corporation in its plans to bring mass tourism to West Douglas via a two-berth private cruise dock scheduled to debut in 2028.
Neil Steininger, the Assembly’s liaison to Eaglecrest’s board, was among the members Wednesday who expressed reluctance to end the city’s involvement in the gondola project while such key factors remain unknown.
"I think we need a better idea of what those avenues and options we have for Eaglecrest generally are, because if we stop this project, and then we start doing the due diligence after stopping the project, we may get to a point where we say ‘Oh, the gondola actually was probably the best option, the best bang for your buck to make sure Eaglecrest is viable long term,’" he said. "I don't know that that is the case. I don't feel like I have enough information today to know that. I think we're making a decision to halt the project too soon in this process."
Joining Steininger voting against ending the city’s involvement in the gondola were Deputy Mayor Greg Smith and Assembly Member Maureen Hall.
Strongly supporting a halt to the city’s involvement was Assembly Member Christine Woll, who said while Steininger "did a good job talking about kind of why he wants to believe that we could get somewhere differently than where we are today," the history of the gondola since it came before the Assembly in 2021 suggests otherwise.
"As someone who's been involved in this for five years I've been hearing people hoping for something different for Eaglecrest this whole time, and I didn't have a lot of trust to begin with," she said. "I have a lot less trust now and I think the public feels similarly. They're not going to give us another opportunity to figure out how this project works."
"If there are investors out there that want to make this work for them and keep Eaglecrest in our community I'm open to that, but we have to stop this current situation we're in of losing money for a project that will not pencil out in its current form."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
