| Barrie, Ontario -- July 23, 1999 -- After a three-year partnership
at the Carriage Hills Resort at Horseshoe Valley, Horseshoe Resort
Corporation and Shell Vacations LLC have recently announced that they will
expand their professional relationship with the joint operation of
Horseshoe Resort and the addition of extensive upgrades to the resort.
According to David K. Nielsen, vice-president and general manager of
Horseshoe Resort, �Extensive improvements to the hotel and resort amenities
will begin immediately. We anticipate spending in excess of $3 million
over the course of the next two years on the resort and the hotel.
These improvements and upgrades will have a major economic impact on the
region, especially in Oro-Medonte and the city of Barrie, because
we will be using local contractors and tradespeople to complete the improvements.
When construction is complete, we will then be hiring locally to
staff our new facilities.�
These developments and upgrades will include:
-
completion of the interior renovation of the hotel currently underway
-
adding a new restaurant/bar in the main chalet to expand the resort�s food
and beverage operation
-
extending the Highlands 9-hole golf course to a full 18-hole course
-
construction of a new Clubhouse at the Highlands Golf Course
-
creation of a new state-of-the-art ski school facility
-
expanded ski and snow board rental facility
-
substantial investment in ski and boarding equipment
-
construction of a Snow Tube Park
Horseshoe Resort currently employs approximately 700 people. It is
anticipated that the additional amenities and other resort expansions will
generate in excess of 150 new jobs during the coming year.
 Originally
developed in 1962 with five alpine slopes and two T-bars, a rope
town and a small base lodge, Horseshoe Resort has grown over the years
to include a 102-room hotel with meeting facilities; the famed 18-hole
Valley Championship Golf Course, (rated in the top 25 resort courses
in Canada), the 9-hole Highlands Championship Golf Course, 22 Alpine ski
runs and more than 35 kilometres of some of the best Nordic ski trails
in the world.
Developed jointly in 1996 between Horseshoe Resort and Shell Vacations,
Carriage Hills is a 52-unit vacation ownership resort which is currently
95 per cent sold out. Completion of construction for a similar number of
units is expected by the end of 1999, bringing the value of the vacation
ownership segment of resort to $70 million. The third phase of the property,
to include 68 units, is expected to be launched within the next 18 to 24
months and completed by 2002.
Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, Shell Vacations operates 13 other
vacation ownership resorts in California, Arizona, and Hawaii and serves
more than 45,000 owners. With more than 1,500 employees, Shell is one of
the nation�s largest independent developers of vacation ownership resorts. |
