The last time the world’s eyes turned toward the Vail Valley, the gateway town of Avon was little more than a bedroom community and supply depot servicing destination skiers passing through on their way to Vail and Beaver Creek. This time around — 16 years since the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were last held in Eagle County — Avon is stepping up. There are new resort hotels, new restaurants, a pedestrian mall and daily concerts meant to draw visitors who likely won’t recognize Avon.
These next two weeks, in many ways, will be a sort of coming-out party for the no-longer-sleepy hamlet of Avon, which has spent the past few years sculpting its new identity.
“Everything has changed in Avon since 1999. They have really activated in a way that we are surprised by. They have stepped up their game in a big way,” said Ceil Folz, the president of the Vail Valley Foundation, which this week is hosting the world championships for the third time since 1989. “Avon is a great link between our two different resorts, and they are owning that link.”
Vail has its long celebrated vibe, with its faux-Bavarian village, high-end slopeside hotels and abundance of fancy shops. Beaver Creek, an enclave of private chalets, has its own upscale ambiance.
Yes, Vail has undergone a $5 billion revival in the past decade, with lavish new hotels, plazas and restaurants replacing outdated architecture. Beaver Creek, the last big resort to join Colorado’s stable of world-class ski areas, has followed suit with its Arrowhead and Bachelor Gulch residential additions. But those resorts weren’t building a new image as much as burnishing their already opulent aura.
Avon was starting from scratch, transforming itself from a worker-bee bedroom community into a bona fide destination.
Town leaders have spent the past few years building a pedestrian-friendly downtown, with bike lanes and much needed crosswalks. A $1.9 million pedestrian mall — lined with art installations and rock climbing boulders — links the town’s lodges and shops.
Avon’s renaissanceThe Avon renaissance kicked off in 2007 with the opening of the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, which sparked other development in town.
“That was a real step in turning Avon in a positive direction,” said Harry Frampton, the venerable developer whose East West Partners has developed many of the Vail Valley’s top properties — including the Westin Riverfront — since the early 1980s.
The Westin is adjacent to a gondola that connects Avon with Beaver Creek ski area and Bachelor Gulch. A new Wyndham timeshare project — with 58 suites — opens along the Avon Main Street Mall this week, the largest development since the Westin.
Biking and hiking trails spin from town into mountainside open space on the west end of town. A new pavilion will host the second annual Winter Wondergrass concert after the world championships and serve as a community rally point on the sandy beach of Lake Nottingham in the summer. A commercial developer from Chicago is one year into a five-year, $100 million plan to renovate several downtown buildings.
“What we are trying to do is open up the town, expand our possibilities and get people to come here to stay and play,” Avon Mayor Jennie Fancher said, noting a new branding effort with the tagline “Avon: Endless Possibilities.”
“I don’t think Avon in any way wants to compete with Vail and Beaver Creek,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be a destination.”
Avon labored through the recession, with very little development since the Westin opened. Several years of contentious lawsuits between the town and the developer of a long-abandoned airport on the east edge of town reached a resolution in August, allowing the developer, Traer Creek, to continue with its ambitious plans for a residential and commercial village.
Betting big on AvonLast year, a Chicago family bet big on Avon, with plans for renovations and additions.
David Hoffmann and his family-run Osprey Capital are investing $100 million in Avon, purchasing more than 250,000 square feet of commercial space in the town’s older east end, including Chapel Square.
The family, which has been vacationing in Vail and Beaver Creek since the 1980s, is planning to develop a movie theater, bowling alley and several new retail outlets in Avon.
The family also recently acquired 20 acres along U.S. 6, where it plans a pedestrian bridge over the unused Union Pacific railroad tracks to connect the parcel with town. Hoffmann said he has spent “several million dollars” on nine bronze sculptures on his downtown properties, which are adorned with murals and international flags to reflect the pageantry of the world championships.
Artists are opening galleries, home furnishing stores are moving to town and business owners are keen to grab space in Avon, said Hoffmann, who is aiming his development toward both locals and visitors.
“What we have planned is really significant, and we’ve had a very, very positive response from across the country,” he said. “We want Avon to be as nice as Beaver Creek and Vail. We want to blur the distinction, with people saying, ‘Are we in Beaver Creek, or are we in Avon?’ Our vision is that Avon can and should look as good as anything in Beaver Creek or Vail.”
The new hotels and the gondola, Hoffmann’s investment and the resolution of that Traer Creek lawsuit — which Frampton called “a dark cloud over Avon” — are fueling a push by town leaders.
“All these things are coming together and really putting the wind in the back of the town administration,” Frampton said. “We are seeing the town council getting more aggressive with its marketing and really helping Avon build some momentum.”
Avon’s momentIt all comes to a head in the next two weeks for Avon. The pavilion will debut as Audi’s 13-day Winter Driving Experience. The mall will bustle with vendors and concerts as part of its every afternoon after the races but before the medal ceremonies in Vail Village. A jumbo television in the revamped Possibility Plaza will offer live broadcasts from Beaver Creek, including the races if the 3,500-seat, mid-mountain Red Tail Stadium fills.
“We want everyone to see how Avon is just the perfect location,” said Fancher, Avon’s newly minted mayor as she stood near a bronze statue with a view of Beaver Creek’s Grouse Mountain on the horizon. “This is our moment.”
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
