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December 25, 2005New Sugar Loaf owner has big plansCEDAR - Sugar Loaf's new owner has big plans for the long-shuttered Leelanau County resort, including a return for skiing next winter."I know everyone's been waiting, and I've been waiting, too," said Kate Wickstrom, the Leelanau County native who purchased the lodge and ski area in late March. "People just need to hang in there." Local residents and business owners hoped the deal would breathe life into the long-shuttered resort, which closed in 2000 amid a jumble of financial trouble. Wickstrom acknowledged it's been slow-going since she announced her plans nine months ago, but she said more has changed than meets the eye. "We've been doing a lot of internal work and assessing what damage has been done" to the lodge area, she said. Workers are updating hot water lines and boilers and replaced 18 of the building's windows. Wickstrom said she'll first concentrate on renovating and reopening the resort, since ski lift licenses need renewal and the equipment requires repair. She said resort construction, including significant remodeling of lodging rooms, should start by March 1 and liquor and occupancy licenses are in the works. "We're doing this in phases," she said, and predicted the resort would open by June, with a return to skiing next winter. Wickstrom estimated Sugar Loaf will employ about 100 people once the lodge is open. "We're gearing toward a destination resort that will have activities year-round," she said. "We do have some big plans that will be announced in the spring when we take our master plans to the township." Pete Bardenhagen and his wife Karen have owned the nearby Sugarfoot Saloon for 18 years. The business closed this winter for the first time in its history, in part because of declining winter traffic. They're anxious for Sugar Loaf to reopen. "Back to four seasons would be great," Pete Bardenhagen said. "Once we get some action going again, it will help." Wickstrom bought the resort from a company owned by the wife of former Sugar Loaf owner Remo Polselli. Ed Fleis, a Florida developer and another Leelanau County native, partnered in May with developer Brian Sculthorp to buy Sleeping Bear and King's Challenge golf courses, 140 acres of vacant land and the wastewater treatment plant that serves the resort's properties. Wickstrom is executive director of Narconon Stone Hawk, a Battle Creek-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center based partly on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. She's said the operation of Sugar Loaf would be independent of Narconon and Scientology.
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