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June 19, 2004Ski area's future up in airCommission considering optionsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Supporters of Hickory Hills ski area have come up with several ways to lift the city-owned hill out of the red - from making a snowboarding hill to charging non-city residents more. The Traverse City Parks and Recreation Commission is studying the ski hill's operation after it lost $84,594 last season and became part of a $994,700 city budget shortfall, prompting city commissioners to look for possible cuts. City officials also question whether the ski area duplicates services offered elsewhere. The parks commission expects to finalize a recommendation on the future of Hickory Hills at its July 1 meeting. Parks commissioners met with Grand Traverse Ski Club members this week to discuss cost-saving measures. "Everyone agrees that we don't want to close it down," said Rob Lovell, a parks commissioner. "To close it down is a disaster fiscally, if we ever want to open it again." Through raising fees and cutting back on hours, seasonal staff and overtime, the ski hill could save about $20,000 a year. But ski club members, who call Hickory Hills their home slope, say the parks commission needs to be careful about what it eliminates. "Why not look at how we can create more revenue at our park rather than how we can cut back and get by on a shoestring," said Heather Clark of Traverse City. Clark suggested tapping into the popularity of snowboarding by building a half-pipe. Another solution could be charging non-city residents more to ski, the ski club said. Only 29 percent of season pass holders are city residents. Parks director Lauren Vaughn said it could take considerable effort to create a system to check the residency of ticket buyers. "Ultimately increasing revenue is going to be what saves the place," parks commissioner David Grams said. Saving the community ski hill, which opened in 1950, should be the priority, ski club members said. "We talk about wanting to be a cool city, and I just don't know what could be cooler than to have your own city ski hill," said Liz Zimmerman of Traverse City.
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