Fans of the Grand Canyon’s natural beauty might have to go and see it sooner rather than later, as a proposed 420-acre development including restaurants, hotel, multimedia complex and shops is being planned for the eastern portion of the US wonder.
The proposed Grand Canyon Escalade has come up against fierce opposition, with plans also featuring the installation of an eight-person gondola that would carry tourists to the canyon floor where they could visit a restaurant on the Colorado riverside and a Navajoland Discovery Center, which would be overseen by an advisory board.
Confluence Partners, the company behind the proposal, estimates the development could attract as many as three-million extra visitors and US$70m (€53.7m, £42.6m) in additional revenue to the canyon each year, which at present attracts somewhere around five-million people annually.
The US Park Service has opposed the construction, with the body concerned that the development may have an impact on the scenery and wildlife of the area, with Grand Canyon superintendent Dave Uberuaga telling
The Times the development is a “serious threat to the future of the park.”
Critics to the development have also voiced concerns regarding intrusion upon sacred sites, but Confluence’s consultancy group includes several members of the Navajo tribe, on whose land the development is planned to be built on. Several Navajo elders were also consulted while formulating the plans.
The next step in the development is a vote by the Navajo tribal government. If the vote is passed, the US government will then provide an official response.
The project could also suffer from legal issues, with the developers stating they can build anywhere above the river’s high water mark, while the government says all development is blocked up to 0.25 miles (0.4km) from either side of the riverbank at the bottom of the canyon.
