An uphill battle for Escalade

B&F rejects legislation; on to Naabik’íyáti’

BODAWAY-GAP, Ariz.

A legislation that calls for approving $65 million for the development of the off-site infrastructure for the proposed Grand Canyon Escalade failed to pass the Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday.

Even so, the legislation will go before the Naabik’íyáti’ next.

The proposed Grand Canyon Escalade project promises to create 3,500 jobs, on-site and off-site, resulting in an employment boom and outpacing other Navajo communities on job growth.

“We need economic development!” roared Larry Hanks, a member of the community who was given two minutes to share his thoughts before the committee. “We need jobs! We cannot depend on the local, tribal, and federal governments to give handouts. That will not work!”

“We need economic development right now!” added Hanks, who supports the Escalade.

Equal time was allotted to 17 other members of the community also.

The Escalade site is located about 22 miles from Hidden Springs Church in the Cedar Ridge, Arizona area where there is no water or electricity — but there are endangered animals and endangered plants.

The road to the edge of the canyon is rutted. The area around the remote site is undeveloped due to the Bennett Freeze that lasted for 43 years.

Former Navajo Nation President Albert Hale says he, along with Scottsdale, Arizona developer R. Lamar Whitmer and other members of the Confluence Partners LLC, has been negotiating the Escalade project with the Nation for years.

“We’ve spent six years and $4 million to get to where we are at today,” Whitmer said. “We have a commitment, and our commitment goes deep to the local community.”

Whitmer and the Confluence partners are working to build the Escalade, a billon-dollar development with hotels, restaurants, shops, a multimedia complex, and a discovery center on the canyon rim.

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