An open letter to the residences of West Glacier,
You should feel privileged and excited that a company the size of Glacier Park, Inc. has purchased the assets of the Lundgren family in West Glacier.
G.P.I. has owned and operated the facilities in East Glacier Park for the better part of 50 years. It owns 500-plus acres of mostly undeveloped land, part of which is a nine-hole golf course. Its property was subdivided in the ‘60s, making it easy to develop with no problem of existing subdivision laws. It has developed NONE.
The sale of the West Glacier property could have been to a money hungry developer. G.P.I. is owned by Viad Corp., a public company with a market cap of $466 million. I don’t think it is interested in pillaging 200 acres in and around West Glacier.
When Xanterra was awarded the contract, East Glacier Park and Glacier County lost the Red Buses and hundreds of employees. I find it interesting that G.P.I. licensed the buses in Glacier County and paid in excess of $7,000 per year, but now that Xanterra is operating the fleet it has government plates with no revenue to Flathead or Glacier County.
It would be interesting to know why G.P.I. lost the contract and who else bid on the contract. I would think it is public information.
Just my thoughts, as I have a vested interest as a life-long resident of East Glacier Park, a business owner, and Glacier County commissioner.
Glacier Park Inc. is a great steward for Glacier National Park and the surrounding area.
Tony Sitzmann
East Glacier Park