Denver Mountain Parks dropping Echo Lake Lodge concessionaire
On summer weekends in recent years, the parking lot at the Echo Lake Lodge is packed. The store is busy. There's a wait at the restaurant. More and more, people are visiting to get a piece of Colorado.
"They love to come in. Because we have a little bit of everything here," said Denise Melberg, general manager of the HW Stewart Company that runs the concessions at the lodge. "We're here for them."
But the company will no longer have the concession contract it has held since 1965.
"It seems that Denver wants to go in a different direction," said concessionaire and part owner of the company Dustin Day. "I don't believe anyone in the city has poor intentions for this place. But I think they might have lost sight of the true destination. And I don't agree with the direction they're going."
Denver Parks and Recreation declined CBS Colorado's requests for an interview but sent a statement saying in part, "DPR will be undertaking a planning process to evaluate the structural and preservation needs, and the right combination of potential uses for the building and the park as a whole."
But the city has not said what that might be. It recently put up a sign on the front stairs of the building informing people that it will have limited services in 2023.
"They really haven't said anything besides they want to come up with a plan."
The city said in its email that it plans to use its "Game Plan for a Healthy City" to guide decisions about its future use and increase accessibility. Melberg noted that when they locked the sign on the front rail, they did not come in to speak with anyone and the placement made it harder for people with disabilities to get up the stairs.
"Well, it's a real tradition for us and for our family we brought our grandkids here," said longtime visitor Thayne Coulter. "I have a problem with Denver deciding what to do with this."
The concessionaire has had contracts at other Colorado landmarks as well. They still hold the contract at the Buffalo Bill Museum but were pushed out years ago at Red Rocks and atop Pikes Peak.
"My great grandmother started the whole thing on Pikes Peak and she's the one who made all this happen," said Day.
That started back in 1893. At Echo Lake, the family has become known for pies baked by Day's mother, who died last year of cancer, just before the city told the company their deal would not be renewed.
"My mother used to get up every morning and she'd make pies." Day notes that without being on-site, where they live with staff in the upper floor of the building in the summer, they will not be able to help. "We've always been the one, you come knock on the door, wake us up, and we'll help you out."
They have helped in searched and fed search and rescue personnel in the middle of the night. There is no cell service in the area and the lodge has the only working landline at night.
"I mean it doesn't show up on a balance sheet. You know I can't track well, this is the 32nd time we've fixed a flat tire."
They also try to keep costs down and did not raise prices with inflation this year.
"We've always tried to make it so anyone could enjoy what we have to offer, not just the super-rich… If you can get up here in your car, we have something for you. We have knickknacks that cost a dollar all the way up to hundreds of dollars," said Day.
The contract means a percentage of the take goes to the city. It will be over for the family at the end of the summer season after 57 years.
"We don't want to leave. We love it here," said Melberg.