New housing has arrived in Tusayan. It arrived without sweetheart deals with outside developers. It arrived without broken promises. It arrived without threatening the environment.

On December 11th the ribbon was cut for Fireside Ridge at the site of the old Canyon Pines Mobile Home Park on Long Jim Loop in Tusayan. The project has 21 dorm units and eight townhomes. Residents will be moving in soon.

It sits on 1.5 acres, and represents continued efforts to bring more housing to Tusayan from longtime residents. The housing will accommodate employees at Red Feather Lodge. The project consists of permanent structures in a fully landscaped setting.

Several years ago Canyon Plaza owner Ann Wren built apartments to accommodate her employees.
Fireside Ridge is strictly residential and has no commercial component.

Not all business owners in Tusayan have been willing to provide such permanent structure housing. Elling Halvorson, who employs hundreds, has been putting his workers in trailers for decades. Despite all his talk about housing for Tusayan, he has not built anything remotely like what the owners of Canyon Plaza and Red Feather have constructed. In fact, Fireside Ridge actually replaces a row of run down trailers that used to be operated by Halvorson.

Red Feather properties Manager Clarinda Vail said, “I am glad the private sector play a vital role in providing improved employee housing in Tusayan. We have done so without asking the town for special treatment, just fair treatment. This project was also constructed with respect for the fragile environment we treasure at the doorstep to the Grand Canyon. Fireside Ridge is about housing and not about exploiting the area with massive amounts of commercial zoning.”