Stowe Mountain Resort Announces Next Major Phase of Development at Spruce Peak

As more families join the slopes together, Stowe Mountain Resort responds with new services and activities for children and adults.

STOWE – In order to meet the demands of a rapidly growing slope side community, Stowe Mountain Resort and Spruce Peak Realty will begin construction of facilities this spring to expand family amenities and services at the Spruce Peak site.

Several new facilities will be built around a new ice rink that will double as a community plaza and green in the summer. These amenities will include a new state-of-the-art children’s Adventure Center with ski / ride school, year-round daycare facilities, and a children’s activities center.

A new adult-friendly Stowe Mountain Club Alpine Clubhouse will also be part of the expansion, accompanied by more retail shops, restaurants, food markets and a parking garage for Club members. The new facilities will replace existing buildings that were consisted temporary since the nearly $500 million Spruce Peak expansion was launched almost a decade ago. Preliminary costs for the total project were estimated to be around $80 million.

“As with everything we do at Stowe Mountain Resort, this new phase will adhere to the development principals that guide the Resort and Spruce Peak Realty; commitment to family, community, the environment, and the legacy and traditions of Stowe,” said Sam Gaines, VP of Spruce Peak Realty, at a media gathering Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Spruce Peak Club House. “It’s a collective vision that will serve our families for years to come and will ultimately be a preeminent part of the Stowe legacy.”

In brief comments introducing the project, Spruce Peak Lodge president Robert McEleney said the project would start later this spring, proceed through next winter and, if things go as planned, be ready for occupancy before the 2015-16 ski season.

And that’s not all. In comments after the press conference, Communications Director Michael Colburn said resort officials would announce later this spring plans for more non-winter activities at the resort, including the construction of a zip line that would start at the top of the gondola and proceed down the mountain in a few segments.

Resort officials, also stressed their desire to keep the projects “green,” noting they would tap into geothermal heat for part of the new development. Stowe Mountain resort is one of only four “sustainable communities” recognized by Audubon International, and the only mountain resort to have achieved that designation.

While the resort has not yet selected a general contractor, Gaines said he was not anticipating any problems or delays because the project was part of the company’s approved master plan.

“It’s a fluid process,” Gaines told the Stowe Reporter in a Jan. 22 story. “We’re fortunate in Vermont. You can talk with the local people in advance of projects to get advice on how to navigate the permit process.”

The look of the new building, according to the Stowe Reporter, “will blend old and new styles and tie into nature motifs. It will be congruous with other buildings in the area, like the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center and the base lodge. The buildings that house the existing Adventure Center and Alpine Club are intentionally rudimentary, with designers knowing they were only temporary.

The new Adventure Center will have two levels. The connected Alpine Club will be taller and harken to the local forest, with a pinecone inspired shape.”

The Reporter also noted there would be “a smaller structure at the base of the small ice rink to serve as a shelter where people can lace up their skates, inspired by the old Civilian Conservation Corps buildings.”