A well-known New Brunswick ski lodge is gearing up for its big reopening this week after it burned to the ground more than a year ago.
The new $5-million lodge at Poley Mountain in Waterford, N.B., is almost twice as big as the old building, creating more space for a cafeteria, bar, and equipment space.
“We're going to open this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the lodge area to serve people. We're going to have our food and have our bar,” said general manager Bill Anderson.
After the ski lodge burned down in December 2014, 23 mobile trailers were combined to create a makeshift ski lodge two weeks later to remain open for the season.
“I never once heard anybody complain about the trailers or anything,” said Anderson. “People still say today, ‘You've got a nice lodge, but we kind of miss the trailers.’”
Over 200 full-time and part-time employees work at the hill, including one position they haven’t filled in years.
“We've hired a chef this winter for our kitchen,” said Anderson. “He's going to do a little more upscale food. We're going to have different specials every day of the week.”
There’s a mixture of real and manmade snow currently on the mountain. Anderson says more snow will be made this week so they can open some of the 33 trails.
“This year’s memberships are up quite a bit, but there's a lot of interest right now,” he said.
New furnishings have been arriving all week, with everything expected to be in place by the weekend.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
