By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT- The city of Claremont has recently been in discussion with owners of The WheelHouse in regard to renting or leasing a portion of the lodge at Arrowhead.
The conversation surrounding the proposal has been contentious with some members of the community suggesting that the lodge should remain solely a community space.
The lodge and the mountain are run by a non-profit group called Arrowhead Recreation Center (ARC) and have historically been in charge of the lodge and its uses. The WheelHouse co-owner Rob Walker approached ARC with the premise of moving his bicycle shop to the lodge with the intention of helping to facilitate year-round recreation at the mountain, which features miles of trails used for mountain biking. Walker says that the idea became a full presentation on the benefits it would have impacted not only the lodge but the city as a whole.
“Our proposal is that both organizations function out of the same space to help foster recreational activities year-round. How that space is divided is one of many things left up for discussion,” Walker said of the group’s thoughts on renting the space.
The WheelHouse, operating at 12 Plains Road in Claremont, seeks to move their business to the upper level of the lodge, where the facility currently uses the space for rentals and as a traditional ski lodge for roughly three months out of the year. Should they move into the space, their hours may not accommodate late night skiers during the winter months. Walker and crew hope to alleviate these issues through one method or another, including potentially setting up a yurt for skiers, which he says is common practice at ski mountains across the U.S. and Europe.
While a number of local dissenters believe that the lodge should stay just as it has been and available to the public, it is important to point out that for a number of years, portions of the lodge operated as a daycare facility, and while being rented is not available for public entry.
On the other side of the discussion, many people hope that by creating a year-round recreational center it will continue to improve the image and economy of Claremont. Earlier this year, The WheelHouse hosted the Maxxis Eastern States Cup which drew a sizable crowd of mountain biking enthusiasts to the city.
Claremont City Manager Yoshi Manale has also pointed out that while Walker’s presentation offers insights as to potential operations to improve usage at Arrowhead, the city has not received an official proposal for usage of the space. Manale also stated that for the group to go through that process, a lease would have to be written up by the Planning and Development and then sent to the state of New Hampshire for approval before being voted on by the city council.
“We want to make sure ARC is successful, that is our main goal. The city is obviously also very interested in having people attend Arrowhead for year-round recreation. I really believe that everyone wants the same thing, we just have to figure out how to get there,” Manale said of the future of Arrowhead.
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