Re: Hurt feelings in Silverton

"...Out come the rotaries!!!!!"

Rotaries on the Silverton line, unlikely. Wedge plows...oh yeah

Now to this topic, I pretty much agree with Mr. Harper. And you have to understand he meant $500 a night as the extreme. I'd very much like to see a large hotel with a restaurant in Silverton, but most importantly with varying room prices and accommodations. The move to keep Silverton as a quaint mining town is a loosing battle. It's not just an old mountain town anymore and everyone needs to wake up and realize this.

I agree with the statements about the unimpressive gift shops in Silverton. The prices are outrageous, and the variety is nothing out of the ordinary, in fact the quality has declined a lot in recent years. There used to be a fantastic railroadiana store. Back in 1988 they had a beautiful Santa Fe Seth Thomas clock, the price was expensive but very fair for the rare item, man do my dad and I always regret not purchasing it. We came back the next year and it was sold along with most of the other rare items. Oh what could have been. The store closed sometime in the mid 90s after the nice owner retired. A run of the mill T-shirt shop replaced his store. But I digress, back to the topic of Silverton accommodations.

I stayed overnight with my family in Silverton back in 1989. There was a hotel that was all non smoking so, with my dad being very anti smoking and anyone that knows the area knows non-smoking is a rarity, it sounded like the perfect place to stay. The hotel was quaint and old, but seemed OK to me (I was 11 at the time). My mom says it was a dump, and thinking back I can kind of see why. But the bigger problem was after the last train left, the town shut down. There was nowhere to eat! Still in our tourist era (we moved to San Juan mountain area in 1991), we were completely unaware the town shut down after the last train. Live and learn. I believe food and lodging are slightly better nowadays after the last train leaves.

But Silverton could sure use some better accommodations. A hotel that can serve both families and spend thrift retirees is much needed in Silverton. Although those who can afford $500 a night typically don't like noisy kids around.

Almost forgot, the one constant "gift shop" in Silverton are the kids with their wagons of rocks. I bet they'd love to see more money come to Silverton. Without tourists, Silverton life is harsh. What's wrong with possibly increasing the tourist income level to the Silverton area? Nothing.

So why is Phyllis Kennedy upset? My guess is she owns or has some interest in an existing Silverton hotel that does not want to loose customers to a potential new resort. A perfectly valid reason to be upset over Mr. Harper’s comments, but should be taken into consideration when looking at the bigger issue.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2007 03:43PM by San Juan.