Intrawest unveils Copper development Intrawest has unveiled its vision for the Colorado resort of Copper Mountain, which was purchased by the corporation in March 1997. The village plans include social spaces, festival plazas, enhanced view corridors and bold architecture. Resort Planner Eldon Beck, who created the master plan for Whistler Village, has also designed the Phase II development at Copper. Phase II includes three new buildings which will define two events plazas. Intrawest plans to invest $67 million in the project. Intrawest’s senior VP of the Rockies, David Hill, stresses that there is no need for Copper locals to feel the resort is being homogenized. "Copper has long differentiated itself as an independent, irreverent and assertive place. We’re now taking the steps necessary to also make it a really fun and inviting place. The result will be that the people who know and love Copper will want to return more often and spend more and more time here. The entire Copper experience is about to intensify." Hill acknowledged that there has been a lot of speculation about how Copper will change under the ownership of Intrawest. "For the past year and a half, people have been waiting to see how the resort would be altered — asking themselves at the same time, will it become better? The answer is yes, yes it will. Not by becoming a copy of some other place. But by becoming more of what makes Copper, Copper." According to the plans Copper’s base will be redefined by new neighbourhoods, The East Village, The Village at Copper and The Preserve. These will all focus on creating their own style and personality and will be interconnected by landscaping, walkways and heavily timbered buildings framing mountain views and valley vistas. "The current village is not working," says Hill. "It does not have a sense of excitement or flow. The redesign will change that to provide much more of a feeling of community, a sense of place and belonging and a surprise at every turn... People who love Copper will no longer want to vacate the resort when the sun goes down and the lifts come to a halt." Much of the fuel for Copper’s redevelopment has come from sales of units in the Copper Springs Lodge, the resort’s first mountain home project. Last March Copper sold 108 units, worth $33 million, in just six hours. Intrawest has already invested $66 million at Copper over the past eight months. An
