'Grand' view of Canyon

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mtpocket
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'Grand' view of Canyon

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Glass skywalk to offer 'Grand' view of Canyon

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Businessman David Jin developed the idea of a glass walkway over the Grand Canyon nine years ago. The Skywalk at Grand Canyon West is scheduled to open to the public Jan 1. The pictures are an artist's rendering of the attraction.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

Rendering: http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com ... .jpg?x=260& y=345&sig=_glUgvJ3uzQOSEQCzrgy3g--

Erica Sagon
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 23, 2005 12:00 AM

The Grand Canyon's coming attraction is not for the easily queasy: Beginning next year, tourists are expected to be able to glimpse the Canyon's floor through a glass-bottomed walkway jutting 70 feet from the Rim.

The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, which is planned to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's efforts to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into tourist operations that someday could include a high-end resort, golf course and campgrounds.

The destination, known as Grand Canyon West, also will feature an Indian village and Western-themed town, which are scheduled to open Sept. 1. The $40 million project in northwestern Arizona could create competition for the touristy South Rim.

Visitors to the skywalk will pay $25 for a bird's-eye view of the Canyon. By comparison, the entrance to the national park's South Rim, about 200 miles by road to the east, is $20 per car.

The skywalk could help double the number of visitors to Grand Canyon West to 500,000 a year, said Sheri Yellowhawk, chief executive officer of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., a tribal-owned company that oversees the project.

"You're basically looking 4,000 feet down. It's a whole new way to experience the Grand Canyon," Yellowhawk said. "We think that that's what's really going to make the destination bloom."

The skywalk, which is under construction, will accommodate 120 people comfortably, Yellowhawk said, although it is designed to hold 72 million pounds. The walkway has a glass bottom and sides and is supported by steel beams.

Las Vegas-based architect David Jin came up with the idea for the skywalk in 1996 during a trip to the Canyon.

He teamed up with Lochsa Engineering, also from Las Vegas, whose portfolio includes Mandalay Bay Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel.

Jin calls the skywalk "very safe" but said an insurance company has yet to sign on.

"It's pretty scary," Jin said. "You see 4,000 feet below. You can see the Colorado River."

For visitors who want to stay on terra firma, a nearby center will house a cafe with patio seating and indoor meeting rooms.

The Indian village will feature a self-guided tour through dwellings and tepees. In the Western town, people can stroll past old storefronts or sign up for horseback rides along the Canyon's Rim.

The Hualapai Tribe is also positioning itself to be able to handle more visitors by improving its airport. It will use a $2 million grant from the federal government to build a solar energy project to reduce costs at the airport, which now runs on diesel generators.

But to make Grand Canyon West a major tourism site, the tribe will need to improve the roads and water and electricity infrastructure, Yellowhawk said.

She added that turning the reservation into a tourism destination has been a long-time goal of the Hualapai Tribe, which today has about 2,000 members, most of whom live on the reservation in Peach Springs.

Talks of a resort and a tram began in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 1988 that the tribe opened the area to bus tours, Yellowhawk said.

Visitors now tour the Canyon by helicopter, boat and bus.

The reservation attracted 220,000 people last year, and 250,000 are expected this year. Once the skywalk opens, the western end could see up to 500,000 tourists a year, Yellowhawk said.

By comparison, about 4.3 million people visited the Grand Canyon in 2004, according to the park's Web site.

But Yellowhawk said the tribe is not competing for tourism from the South Rim.

"We wouldn't be taking from them, we would be supporting them," Yellowhawk said.

Janet Balsom, spokeswoman for the Grand Canyon National Park, said the Hualapai's Grand Canyon West will attract visitors looking for a themed attraction while the national park attracts those looking to see the wilderness.

"I don't think that the Grand Canyon National Park will see any change in visitation," Balsom said. "(The Hualapais ) really do tap into a different visitor base."

The reservation is not part of the national park, but the tribe has shared some of its long-term plans.

"It's a great opportunity for the tribe," Balsom said.

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Fast facts: Las Vegas resident David Jin came up with the idea and worked with other architects and engineers on the project. He said the skywalk was designed to:

• Support the weight of about 70 Boeing 747 jets.

• Withstand winds of 100 mph coming from eight directions.

• Withstand an earthquake with an 8.0 magnitude.

Where: The attraction is 120 miles east of Las Vegas and 72 miles northeast of Kingman.
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