A dream formulated by Adi F. Bauer in the 1950s then tweaked by Wolfgang Richter in the 1980s has been rekindled once again.
Proponents of the plan will share their vision for resort development on Brohm Ridge on Thursday, Nov. 22. Those interested in the future of the Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) Inc. proposal are invited. The vice chairman, director and founder will be at a meeting hosted by GAS in the Squamish Adventure Centre with an expected crowd of up to 200 people.
The project has been under the radar but Richter is ready to get people talking about the development again. He said he moved to Whistler this summer as part of his work to move the proposed four-seasons resort ahead.
Richter said the objective of the meeting, which will start at 6:30 p.m., is to reconnect with supporters of the project while introducing it to those who aren't familiar with it and want to learn more.
"I think people are going to get an update that's going to be very low key," said Richter. "We're keeping it very small. It's not a public meeting as much it's a meeting of people that we know who have expressed interest or are curious.
"It's not meant to be a closed door shop thing. There's no secrets here but we're not going to overstate where we think we're at and what we're going to do tomorrow."
Water is on the top of Richter's mind. He said proving there is enough water on Brohm Ridge is a key part of satisfying the requirements of the Environment Assessment process, a process Richter took the proposal through in the 1990s. Things changed significantly when Richter lost corporate control and the new controlling interests asked the provincial government to expand the project area from 3,238 hectares (8,000 acres) to 4,856 hectares (12,000 acres).
The project transformed from a smaller mountain resort accessed by a winding road to a development project that included golf courses around Brohm Lake and Cat Lake, along with a parking lot near Highway 99 and a gondola to take users up the mountain.
Richter isn't ruling out eventual development of the golf courses but he admitted the plan, created while he didn't have controlling interest, didn't sit well with the community.
"We violated the cardinal rule of not in my backyard," Richter said.
He said the project will be built in phases and his emphasis is on the first phase, which he said is the mountain top village he has dreamed of from the beginning.
Richter said the focus is to build a mountain village at the end of a 10-kilometre road up from Highway 99. Before roadwork can begin Richter said drilling needs to be done to demonstrate that there's enough water to support more than 5,700 bed units within the project area. Richter said the timing is critical because the project team wants to get a few priority tasks finished before May when a provincial election is due.
Richter's partners include Bob Gagliardi, Luigi Aquilini and Hunter Milborne Development Corp. Investment value of the project is estimated at $5.5 billion.
