What does the town of Killington need?

[TheAbominableSnowman]

What does the town of Killington need?

If there was to be some sort of new business in town what should it be? what is the Killington area missing? something that will be good for touristy and locals alike.

What are your thoughts on this and what would you like to see in the Killington area separate from the resort?

[Barnibus]

Brewery/pub on the access road with quality affordable beverages year round.Something that can compete with the Long Trail brewery.....

[robrules]

Storyland II - The VT Chapter.

I would second a brewpub, but Killington is an issue for that. Too much demand in winter and not enough in summer. You would have to have massive amounts of storage vessels which would require big $$$ - and putting out alot of $$$ for raw materials without any revenue coming in in the summer. Would be good for lagers though....

K really needs something that will draw lots of people there in the off skiing season - which will draw more full time businesses, not just seasonal bars/restaurants.

[Coydog]

Not a big draw by itself, but I've always wondered if a decent pool hall on the Access Road would work. A place with regulation tables, good bar, good food, good vibe, etc.



Could be interesting.

[hillbangin]

Don't laugh but hockey rinks and soccer/lax fields -

With all the cheap housing in the summer - they could do TONS of tournaments -

I can't tell you about all my SPORE friends who tell me ' I had a wonderful weekend at Waterville skiing while my son/daughter played in a hockey tournament'

Good clean fun and you get the family dollar up there - combine it with the biking, golfing, and Gondi and it would seem to me to be a cheap way to get a lot of folks up there....

[Bubba]

As a town with about 1100 full time residents but that can have up to 20,000 people here and in the surrounding area on a peak winter weekend, the needs are difficult to fill for obvious reasons. Businesses that thrive in the winter can be dead in the summer. Furthermore, the winter demographic is significantly younger than the full time and summer/fall demographic and that also complicates the kinds of businesses that could do well year round. My suggestions would include:

1. An indoor water park such as Jay Peak has built. This will have the advantage of providing an alternative activity in the winter if the weather doesn't cooperate and be a draw in the non-peak season as well.

2. Some lower key entertainment venues that go beyond the big three - The Wobbly, The Pickle and The Nightspot or whatever it's called now. A coffee house type venue such as Higher Ground in South Burlington or The Turning Point in Piermont, NY might do ok here. Liquid Art is a step in that direction.

3. A summer music series, set up maybe at Bear where you could control access better than elsewhere. "Cooler in the Mountains" is a start but bring in bigger acts, market it well and attract people to the area for the weekends.

[Bubba]

Don't laugh but hockey rinks and soccer/lax fields -

With all the cheap housing in the summer - they could do TONS of tournaments -

I can't tell you about all my SPORE friends who tell me ' I had a wonderful weekend at Waterville skiing while my son/daughter played in a hockey tournament'

Good clean fun and you get the family dollar up there - combine it with the biking, golfing, and Gondi and it would seem to me to be a cheap way to get a lot of folks up there....

We have the fields already but they're not used for attracting those type of events. Down on River Road where the town recreation center is located has ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court and a great town pool. All of it is underutilized.

[Stormchaser]

Don't laugh but hockey rinks and soccer/lax fields -

With all the cheap housing in the summer - they could do TONS of tournaments -

I can't tell you about all my SPORE friends who tell me ' I had a wonderful weekend at Waterville skiing while my son/daughter played in a hockey tournament'

Good clean fun and you get the family dollar up there - combine it with the biking, golfing, and Gondi and it would seem to me to be a cheap way to get a lot of folks up there....

We have the fields already but they're not used for attracting those type of events. Down on River Road where the town recreation center is located has ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court and a great town pool. All of it is underutilized.

Is this divergence of town and resort one of the problems in creating the 4 season destination Killington wants to become? Would it make any difference at all if town facilities were located on/around the access road? It may make the place feel busier in the summer...

[Bubba]

Don't laugh but hockey rinks and soccer/lax fields -

With all the cheap housing in the summer - they could do TONS of tournaments -

I can't tell you about all my SPORE friends who tell me ' I had a wonderful weekend at Waterville skiing while my son/daughter played in a hockey tournament'

Good clean fun and you get the family dollar up there - combine it with the biking, golfing, and Gondi and it would seem to me to be a cheap way to get a lot of folks up there....

We have the fields already but they're not used for attracting those type of events. Down on River Road where the town recreation center is located has ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court and a great town pool. All of it is underutilized.

Is this divergence of town and resort one of the problems in creating the 4 season destination Killington wants to become? Would it make any difference at all if town facilities were located on/around the access road? It may make the place feel busier in the summer...

I don't think the location is that big a deal, although it would certainly help make things look busier day in and day out if the recreation facilities were closer to the access road. Unfortunately they're not but, then again, I don't think you have enough flat ground on this side of Route 4 to lay all that out anyway.

The real problem to me that the sponsor of any event held here would only get a portion of the revenue. Spend the money to put on an event, sell tickets, but a lot of the ancillary revenue (i.e. meals and rooms) goes to others. You'd have to have pretty large, big name acts that would be self-supported by ticket sales and co-sponsoring in order to make any money. The EDTC and the resort are working together to bring in co-sponsors for events now so we're moving in the right direction. Still, marketing remains a problem. For example, Okemo's Jackson Gore music series schedule is already up on the Okemo website. I can plan now which Friday nights to set aside to see various performers. On http://www.discoverkillington.com/signa ... -mountains what we find is "Details for Killington's 2012 It's Cooler in the Mountains coming soon!" OK....how soon? Give me a clue! We need to do better in order to compete for tourist dollars.

[Mister Moose]

Not a big draw by itself, but I've always wondered if a decent pool hall on the Access Road would work. A place with regulation tables, good bar, good food, good vibe, etc.



Could be interesting.

Aren't you supposed to hit the white ball with the pointy stick?

[Humpty Dumpty]

What does the town of Killington need?

To get rid of skiersleft. He's a previously mentioned French word.

[hillbangin]

Don't laugh but hockey rinks and soccer/lax fields -

With all the cheap housing in the summer - they could do TONS of tournaments -

I can't tell you about all my SPORE friends who tell me ' I had a wonderful weekend at Waterville skiing while my son/daughter played in a hockey tournament'

Good clean fun and you get the family dollar up there - combine it with the biking, golfing, and Gondi and it would seem to me to be a cheap way to get a lot of folks up there....

We have the fields already but they're not used for attracting those type of events. Down on River Road where the town recreation center is located has ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court and a great town pool. All of it is underutilized.

Is this divergence of town and resort one of the problems in creating the 4 season destination Killington wants to become? Would it make any difference at all if town facilities were located on/around the access road? It may make the place feel busier in the summer...

I think that is the issue - the only 'organization' big enough to sponsor anything is the mountain - and they're all set in the Winter - and selling conferences and weddings in the summer -

Not sure what the answer is - not sure if the person above was joking about Storyland - but man do they draw money for the whole Conway area -

This would not hurt would it though - I don't know why every ski resort in NA has not done this yet - same business - but in the summer -

http://www.campwoodward.com

[Dr. NO]

Like most towns looking to find income, especially year round, some type of small, out of sight, industry. It is ski country so how about a ski manufacturer off one of the town side roads or down on Rt. 4 in the flats. Brewery is nice, but would they survive on the access road in off seasons? Since we all tend to over indulge when in Killington, how about a spa for drying out or drug recovery. Yeah, lots of NIMBY's on that, but a year round business and some of us might actually use it.

[VTbound]

Maybe a third golf course...

[Nevada West]