Contractor's proposal for new Lake Powell marina OK'd

By TODD GLASENAPP
Sun Correspondent
04/23/2001

PAGE -- A 31-year-old plan to build a resort-marina at Lake Powell's Antelope Point has inched a step closer to completion.

A proposal to build and operate the project a few miles east of Page was accepted by the National Park Service and Navajo Nation, a park service news release said Friday.

GMF Antelope LLC of Paradise Valley was the only respondent to an October 2000 prospectus for the project, the news release said.

A few years ago, the price tag of the resort-marina was put at $60 million. In June 1999, a boat launch ramp opened at Antelope Point, and was the first tangible production of the 1970 Quadrilateral Agreement between the tribe, park service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation.

The boat launch is on park service property, and the resort-marina would be on Navajo land. The boundary is the 3,700-foot elevation level. To reach the area, visitors must pass a Navajo Nation fee station.

A resort-marina is expected to revitalize the economy for part of the Navajo Reservation by providing many jobs.

The news release said the park service director and the Navajo Nation's executive director for economic development have selected GMF's proposal and will begin working with the firm to finalize details of the proposal and contractural requirements.

The concesion contract and business site lease will be executed upon finalization of terms and conditions, and upon completion of a site-specific environmental assessment, the release said.