Crews race against time to finish ski resort facelift

WINTER PARK – After 11 years heading up Winter Park, CEO Gary DeFrange is overseeing the biggest project he's ever witnessed at the ski area.

"These are the big changes. This is the commercial village," said DeFrange.

Winter Park has been busy all summer, as construction crews work to finish a $100 million base-village transformation. It started last year with 200 new condominiums. This year, it's 20,000 square feet of new commercial space, a pond for ice skating and a cabriole.

"It's basically a gondola but its open air," said DeFrange.

All the construction is being put right on top of one of Winter Park's biggest parking lots, but the resort says they won't lose any spots, thanks in part to a new three-level parking garage.

Plus, the construction includes some environmental features. The new cabriole will run on electricity generated with wind power and it will replace shuttles once used to take skiers from outlying parking lots to the base area.

"People can ride our new cabriole lift from the main parking lot instead of using a bus over here to the resort," said DeFrange.

There are also plans to use the heat generated from the cabrioles motors to help melt sidewalk snow in the new village.

"We're going to retain that heat instead of letting it go outside and dissipate into the air," said DeFrange.

DeFrange knows the white stuff will be falling soon as the race heats up to get the new village finished before summer slips into winter. Before he knows it, skiers will start arriving.

The plan is to have everything finished by the time the resort opens on Nov. 19, but if early snow slows the work down, construction may not be completed until Dec. 15.