Post by Woody Williams on Aug 8, 2005 8:11:43 GMT -5
WW - More IDNR cost cutting??
State may sell Turkey Run Inn, other state lodges
August 8, 2005
The rustic Turkey Run Inn, one of six state-run lodges that are part of Indiana's state park system, could be placed under private management - or even sold off - under a plan to streamline state agencies.
The lodges - at Turkey Run, Brown County, McCormick's Creek, Clifty Falls, Pokagon and Spring Mill state parks - make enough money for maintenance and to make payments on $23 million in borrowing over the years that funded improvements.
But putting them in the hands of the private sector either to own or operate might generate more money for other park improvements, said Kyle Hupfer, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
For now, he said, the agency simply is considering its options, including researching whether the inns, all of which were built before 1940, could legally be sold.
"We won't do it if it does not result in an economically superior outcome for the state; not unless we could eliminate all the outstanding debt the state has with the (inns)," Hupfer said.
Indiana lodges netted $583,000 in the 2004-05 budget year, he said.
State officials say they have not tried to estimate the lodges' value on the open market. If the buildings were sold, the private owner would lease the land from the state, providing a constant revenue stream, but Hupfer said "we would never sell the land."
State Rep. Robert Hoffman, R-Connersville, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said any changes probably would need legislative approval.
"I'm not willing to sell everything yet, but I think this is worth studying," he said.
Talk of turning the lodges over to the private sector worries some patrons.
Every year, New Harmony farmer Marvin Redman stays with family and friends at the three-story Turkey Run Inn about 50 miles west of Indianapolis near the town of Marshall. He said they enjoy the wooded setting, where guests relax on a sun-dappled porch or outside nearby cabins.
Redman believes the lodge, which opened in 1919, belongs to all Hoosiers.
"It's ours, that's the way I look at it," he said. "If it's run right, I'd just as soon see it government-owned."
www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_3985656,00.
State may sell Turkey Run Inn, other state lodges
August 8, 2005
The rustic Turkey Run Inn, one of six state-run lodges that are part of Indiana's state park system, could be placed under private management - or even sold off - under a plan to streamline state agencies.
The lodges - at Turkey Run, Brown County, McCormick's Creek, Clifty Falls, Pokagon and Spring Mill state parks - make enough money for maintenance and to make payments on $23 million in borrowing over the years that funded improvements.
But putting them in the hands of the private sector either to own or operate might generate more money for other park improvements, said Kyle Hupfer, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
For now, he said, the agency simply is considering its options, including researching whether the inns, all of which were built before 1940, could legally be sold.
"We won't do it if it does not result in an economically superior outcome for the state; not unless we could eliminate all the outstanding debt the state has with the (inns)," Hupfer said.
Indiana lodges netted $583,000 in the 2004-05 budget year, he said.
State officials say they have not tried to estimate the lodges' value on the open market. If the buildings were sold, the private owner would lease the land from the state, providing a constant revenue stream, but Hupfer said "we would never sell the land."
State Rep. Robert Hoffman, R-Connersville, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said any changes probably would need legislative approval.
"I'm not willing to sell everything yet, but I think this is worth studying," he said.
Talk of turning the lodges over to the private sector worries some patrons.
Every year, New Harmony farmer Marvin Redman stays with family and friends at the three-story Turkey Run Inn about 50 miles west of Indianapolis near the town of Marshall. He said they enjoy the wooded setting, where guests relax on a sun-dappled porch or outside nearby cabins.
Redman believes the lodge, which opened in 1919, belongs to all Hoosiers.
"It's ours, that's the way I look at it," he said. "If it's run right, I'd just as soon see it government-owned."
www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_3985656,00.
