The grand hotels failed for many reasons, but largely because travel to other destinations became so affordable.
"It all seems to be ending. You think kids want to come with their parents to take fox trot lessons? Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. It seems like it's all slipping away."
-- Max Kellerman, a Catskill Borscht Belt resort owner, in the movie "Dirty Dancing", set in 1963.
Most of the former grand hotels within the Catskill blue line are now history, and the properties state owned. Some of the other properties have been subdivided for private homes. Reassembling the private parcels would be impractical. It is true that many of the failed borscht belt resort properties are intact and might be better locations for a golf resort. But the prime incentive for this project was to boost the financial viability of the Belleayre ski center by providing a year-round tourist draw and to bring an entirely new clientele to the Catskills. Ulster and Delaware county politicians and business groups asked Mr. Gitter to develop the business proposals. It was not his idea at conception. I must admit I don't begin to understand the viability of the business plan. Hopefully they have done their homework well, but I fear not.
I tend to feel more jittery than giddy when I hear of Mr. Gitter's glittery grand plans. I have still not seen enough of the new plans to finalize my opinion. A new EIS is yet to be developed, and it will receive extensive review. Some environmental groups support the new proposal while others don't. Some environmental groups will never support any development, and they would undoubtedly even oppose the development of the Mohonk Mountain House if it was proposed today.
But one thing is sure: The new, reduced Belleayre Resort plan is infinitely preferable over the original. The "green messiah's" vision for the
Big Indian Resort will now be fodder for books of never-built architecture kitsch. It was to have been sited along the
2327' summit of the Big Indian Plateau, a.k.a. Garretson Ridge, on the eastern side of Belleayre Mt. This area is the 1216 acres of "pristine forest" which is now proposed to be added to the forest preserve. The ridge is a beautiful maturing second growth hardwood forest (northern hardwoods actively replacing southern hardwoods) with hemlock groves. Several old logging roads will provide many good hiking opportunities. The never completed Belleayre Beach Trail up Giggle Hollow will hopefully be finished once this parcel is state owned.
The two hotels and now one golf course will all be sited on land near CR 49A, much of which has been previously developed. The devil will still be in the details. I am particularly curious to see how the golf course will be laid out on the mountain slopes. The original plan's drawings showed terraces with steep retaining walls. It looked like concrete Bali meets the Catskills. I am hopeful those detailed plans will continue to improve. One thing is inevitable: more traffic on Route 28.
The Kingston Freeman ran two additional articles today on the
resort agreements, and the
continuing opposition
