Telemark deal will keep resort open

The historic Telemark Resort in northwest Cable, Wisconsin, dodged another wrecking ball and will continue operating through a sale agreement reached on March 8.

Based on a signed letter of intent, Telemark Partners LLC will acquire the lodge and roughly 1,000 acres of land and move ahead with ambitious plans to renovate the aging building. The Partners plan to create an Olympic-level training center for cross-country skiers, mountain bikers and snowboarders. Steve Kaufman, president of Telemark Partners, said the work would start in April or May.

None of the parties would reveal the sale price, but previous reports pegged it at $2 million. Telemark Partners planned to invest another $20 million.

A year ago, Telemark Partners unveiled the plans to update the rooms and replace the dated 1970s look of the lodge. Shortly after the announcement, the partners failed to secure the cash to buy the property and start the work.

With the deal stalled, the owners of the property, the Telemark Interval Owners Association, voted to surrender Telemark to the mortgage holder, Dick Short, a real estate developer from Springfield, Missouri.

Short confirmed he had received a property on Lac Court Oreilles, south of Hayward, as a nonrefundable down payment for Telemark. The sale is scheduled to close on April 1. Short will continue to hold the mortgage.

The deal came together with the investment of Paul Eckerline, an executive with Wausau Paper Co. and a longtime volunteer with the American Birkebeiner. Eckerline put in the lakefront property on Lac Court Oreilles as the down payment. The 57-year-old lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and worked at Telemark in 1975.

"I've vacationed there, skied there, volunteered with the Birkie and the Fat Tire Festival," Eckerline said. "I think it's a good investment and I'm betting on the Telemark Partners to make a go of it."

Eckerline will be the new owner of Telemark. Kaufman and Ric Ahern will be the operating partners.

First built in 1946 by local promoter Tony Wise, the sprawling lodge has been through some form of bankruptcy or foreclosure three times. It was shuttered from last fall to mid-January while the latest sale negotiations continued in fits and starts.

Under an operating agreement with Short, Telemark Partners reopened the lodge in mid-January, and roughly 120 rooms were rented for the American Birkebeiner Ski Race the weekend of Feb. 26.