Moqui Lodge’s future<br>still seems uncertain
TUSAYAN — For years, there have been whisperings about changes planned for Moqui Lodge. So when told that there may be changes coming over this off-season, folks close to the lodge are not surprised. But they also have a degree of skepticism.
"It has been up in the air for quite a while," said Alberta Booth, who helped start a curio shop at the lodge years ago. "It’ll be pretty sad for me to watch all this happen to it. It’s been home for quite a long time. A lot of my family has been here."
Grand Canyon National Parks Lodges, which operates the lodge near the South Entrance Station, plans to do something at the site. But what those plans may be have not been finalized.
"We don’t know the future of Moqui Lodge ... options are being discussed," said Bill Johnston, GCNPL general manager. "Do we move forward and do that work or do something in terms of knocking it down and building something new? There are four or five scenarios up in the air."
Moqui Lodge’s occupancy permit was supposed to expire today. Johnston said it had been "grandfathered" for a few years on structural and compliance issues that needed to be updated. Although Amfac Parks and Resorts owns Moqui Lodge, the facility operates under a permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
Business at the lodge has not been stellar over the past few years, especially with Grand Canyon visitation experiencing a steady decline.
"Business in general is down this year," Johnston said, a statement that holds true for Amfac’s other lodges inside the park. "Moqui is primarily an overflow property for us."
Johnston said he hopes there will be a decision made within the next month to six weeks on Moqui’s fate.
"If there’s to be some major work done there, we’ll need to get started," Johnston said. The lodge is now closed for the off-season.
Tourism-related business at the Moqui Lodge site dates back to the beginnings of Tusayan. In August 1928, Rudolph "Chick" Kirby opened a store and campground on 10 acres of land leased from the Forest Service where the lodge now sits. A few years later, Kirby sold the business to Charles Green.
By 1934, the site was known as Moqui Camp. In the late 1930s, Civilian Conservation Corps workers constructed the first rock cabins in the vicinity.
The A-frame building and dining room came along in 1966. Renovations were made in the late 1970s to give the lodge its current interior appearance.
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