Macon County in Illinois is proud to be heartland corn country, and the local economy of Decatur, the county seat, is dominated by two corn-milling giants, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Staley Manufacturing. So, given that, what in tarnation was Design Workshop of Aspen, Colorado, doing huddled up with the corn millers and officials of the Macon County Conservation District? Design Workshop does ski areas, doesn’t it?
You bet. And if all goes according to plan, within three years a ski facility will be operating where now there are just cornfields. It will literally have grown out of the ashes, complete with lifts, lighted trails, base lodge and snowmaking ponds.
The story starts with the corn milling plants, whose electrical and steam needs are met by coal-burning, co-generating plants. The ash residue (don’t call it waste, it’s by-product), which chemically speaking is calcium sulfate, has to be disposed of, and typically it goes into landfills. When mixed with water the stuff dries hard. It can be worked and shaped. It’s light. What about piling it up and making a hill out of it — a ski hill?
“One of our engineers thought up the possibility,” says ADM vice president, Richard E. Burket. “It seemed like an opportunity for us to do something for the area.”
The concept calls for the construction of a 188-acre resort, phased over 16 years. In that time span the combined ash production of the two plants will make possible a ski hill of somewhere between 350 and 500 feet in height. Anything over 475 feet and it beats all ski areas in the North Central Region of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. At the 400 feet used in planning documents, it ranks third, behind Iowa’s Sundown (475 feet) and Chestnut Mountain in Illinois (465 feet).
Phase 1, which could be complete in three years after the ash dumping starts, would have a hill with 75-ft. vertical, parking lots, two lighted trails, snowmaking and pond and a double chairlift. At full build-out around 2005, there will be eight trails served by two quads and a double. The area should get a 121-day season and the hill should have a comfortable capacity of 1,400.
The eight trails in the Design Workshop plan range from beginner (19 percent) through advanced intermediate (13 percent). The remaining 68 percent would range from novice through lower intermediate to intermediate. A nice thing about the ash mountain is that it can be sculpted to produce precisely what the designer wants. (It can also be tunneled into for whatever recreational purposes these creative Illinoisans can dream up.)
The base lodge would have 23,364 square feet, and there would be a 5,000 sq. ft. mountain restaurant and a 2,400 sq. ft. maintenance facility.
A theme park is part of the conceptual planning, as is a golf course and baseball diamond. The snowmaking ponds (totaling 8.5 acres) should, of course, get heavy recreational use in summer. The parking area covers 15 acres.
Shades of Disney
But this isn’t all. Preston Schellbach, executive director of the Macon County Conservation District that will eventually operate the facility, does not think small. He talks about white water rapids and roller-coaster rails inside the mountain similar to attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In fact, he pointedly refers to a 1987 report by the Governor’s Task Force on Recreation and Tourism that called for the state to look for opportunities to “Have a major attraction such as a Disney World or Williamsburg.” Could this be . . .?
At this time, ADM and Staley are still working on land acquisition, and Burket emphasizes that the project is still not yet site specific. ADM is financing 75 percent of mountain construction costs (including parking, lifts and lighting) as well as initial site development. Staley will pay the balance. For the balance of the project, concessionaires will be sought to develop the other amenities.
The whole proposal has received considerable local support, including a strong endorsement from the Decatur Herald & Review: “While there are some matters that still need clearing up — such as questions of adequate infrastructure and road usage — this is the type of project we all should rally behind, applauding the spirit of this enterprise and give it a fair shot to succeed.”
And when it’s built, what about erecting a statue to the anonymous ADM engineer who thought majestically of building mountains, not filling holes. Or, perhaps, carve his or her likeness out of ashrock atop this mountain and call the whole thing Mount Ashmore? For, surely, here’s an industry hero for the ’90s!
