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Wednesday, October 07, 2009
No more guests
By Christine Steele
Silver City Sun-News
SILVER CITY — Bear Mountain Lodge, a local guest lodge owned by the Nature Conservancy, is the latest victim of a struggling economy. After being willed to the conservancy 10 years ago, the lodge will close and the conservancy plans to put the property on the market.
The last guests of the lodge checked out Tuesday, said Esther Scherf, kitchen manager at the lodge for the past four years.
“I'm very sad. It's been a great place to work,” she said. “I've been around for a long time in the food-service business, and this has just been the most positive experience.”
The lodge had already begun to feel the sting of the recession.
Until mid-June, Scherf said, the lodge served dinner and was popular with locals, as well as guests. But because of budget cuts within the organization, the lodge had to cut back and the dinners were one of the things to go, along with two other cooks who helped with the operation. The lodge also phased out its staff naturalist position and relied on volunteers to fill in.
At its peak, the lodge had about 12 employees during her tenure, Scherf said. Now there are eight and pretty soon there will just be one to stay on and take care of the place while the property is readied for the market.
While a listing price hasn't yet been determined, the 11-room guest ranch and 160 acres are valued at nearly $1.3 million, according to the Grant County Assessor's Office.
Patrick Conlin, owner/broker of Prudential Silver City Properties and president of the Silver City Regional Association of Realtors, said it is a prime property in excellent condition and close to town, but it might have limited buyers both because of the price range it will fall into and the restrictions — such as no subdividing —that will be placed on it by the seller.
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