Breathing new life into the old

The day lodge at Red Mountain Resort gets a facelift and additional facilities

The day lodge will be have more room to provide retail service to customers. — courtesy Mika Hakkola

The day lodge is being renovated at Red Mountain Resort to provide more services for larger crowds.

Crews have been working on the building, replacing walls and floors and adding a conference centre that will hold 120 people, according to Mika Hakkola, marketing and communications manager for the resort.

Hakkola said there was a desire to keep and acknowledge the rustic heritage.

“There’s been an awful lot of effort to maintain the rich history of the lodge,” he said, “but we’ve also given it a shot in the arm in that we’ve been able to bring a modern sense to the building.”

The space created through the expansion will help improve guest services in the form of larger and faster ticketing operations and more retail areas, he added.

Skiers and boarders will appreciate the expanded patio deck, which tripled in size.

Wood was extensively used to maintain the heritage aspect of the lodge, but metal sheeting was included to give an edgy feel.

The building is 63 years old and features timber frames that were part of an old compression station from the days of the mining rush 100 years ago.

Contractors were able to retain the original framework of the structure and added 5,600 square feet to the existing 17,000 square feet.