Former Idaho mining town finds new life

In 1981, the plunging price of silver prompted Bunker Hill to shut down, putting more than 2,000 people out of work and sending the region into a tailspin from which it is only now emerging.

Shoshone County's population fell from 20,000 in 1975 to around 14,000 today. The unemployment rate rose well into double digits.

In 1983, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the town and its immediate surroundings a Superfund site. The stigma hurt, but it triggered tens of millions of dollars for clean up.

Hillsides that had been denuded of trees by poison chemicals were replanted and now are lush again. The ground and water were cleaned up, and land was made safe for human activity.

After Bunker Hill closed, city officials decided that tourism was their best hope for a strong economy, and focused on pumping up business at the modest local ski area, originally called Jackass Ski Bowl, after Kellogg's donkey.

They built a 3.1 mile gondola, billed as the longest in the world, to carry skiers from parking lots near Interstate 90 straight up to the slopes, avoiding a treacherous mountain drive. But the ski area, renamed Silver Mountain, proved too difficult for the city to run and it was sold to Jeld-Wen in 1996.

As a private company, Jeld-Wen does not publicly disclose its finances. Stephen Lane, director of sales for Silver Mountain, said the company's investment in the area is considerable.

That's obvious on a tour.

The 42,000-square foot indoor water park, the only one at a western ski resort, is under construction in the ski village, and is set to open next February or March. It will have a surfing machine, a lazy river and slides.

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The golf course sprawls across a hillside that used to be covered with toxic mining wastes. It will open with nine holes next year and 18 holes in 2010.

One big selling point in Kellogg is that, relative to the likes of Sun Valley or Vail, condos are still a bargain. And nearby Spokane's good air connections throughout the West make it a relatively short trip for people in Southern California and other places to fly in and then drive an hour to the ski area. Real estate manager Neal Scholey said condo owners hail from 15 states.

The area is also drawing a big boost from the construction of numerous paved biking trails that run for dozens of miles into the scenic mountains, drawing riders from around the world.

Instead of Superfund, the emphasis now is on "superfun," Lane said.

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