When I was a kid, my dad used to take us to Candlestick Park
to watch the Giants, and Kezar Stadium to see the 49ers. Later, we’d go to the Oakland Coliseum to
watch the A’s play. They weren’t called
Pamper’s Candlestick Park, or Trojan Kezar Pavilion, or Oracle Coliseum (not at
that time anyway). Ah, but corporate
money speaks volumes, and thus the AT&T Parks, and Staples Centers, and
Coors Fields have bought off the great sporting venues just for the right to
have their names plastered on the sides of stadiums and blurted out by sportscasters
happy to hype the absurd like Vivint Smart Home Arena (Google it).
But now, Wall Street behemoths have gone WAY TOO FAR in
their zest for greed at the expense of the public domain. Delaware North, which calls itself a “Hospitality
management” company, is being downright inhospitable in a power grab over one
of America’s great treasures. Delaware
North (also known as DNC), which has operated the concessions at Yosemite
National Park since 1993, lost the contract to competitor Aramark. And, in
a nasty snit, DNC has told the US Government, in other words, you and me, that
it will sue us because it doesn’t want anybody else to use the iconic names of
Yosemite landmarks they had a temporary contract to operate … unless we pay
Delaware North more than 50-million dollars.
That means there will be no more summer camp outs at Curry
Village, no more grand hiking trips out of Wawona Hotel, no more skiing at
Badger Pass, and the worst of it all, no more gourmet dinners or royal accommodations
at the majestic Ahwahnee Hotel. Yep, in
not so many words, Delaware North says “screw you,” if we can’t continue to run
those historic facilities in Yosemite, then no one else can, at least under
their original names dating back nearly a century. When we leave, says Delaware, we’re claiming
those names are ours and if you want them, you’ll have to pay us for them. What a bunch of bastards!
In order to avoid paying the absurd extortion to DNC, the
federal government has announced it will change the names of all those
facilities. This would save us taxpayers
millions, but at the same time, result in the loss of historic identities for
some of America’s most prized possessions.
Opened in 1927, the Ahwahnee is a national Historic Landmark and on the
US register of National Historic Places.
It has served Presidents and queens and shahs. But more importantly, it has served the
average person. As of March 1, The
Ahwahnee will no longer exist. Nor will
Curry Village or Wawona. All because of
the outrageous greed of Delaware North.
The new names don’t matter.
They actually sound like something the Hilton or Marriott or Hyatt would
come up with for prestige properties they own.
They are randomly generic and do little to reflect the ethnic and
cultural identities that forever have been associated with Yosemite.
Are they permanent?
Perhaps not. As Scott Gediman, a longtime Yosemite ranger, public
spokesman, and all around good guy told the Fresno Bee, “If there is a resolution to the current dispute, it’s the
park service’s intention to retain the original names.”
So how can we get a resolution. Public backlash may have something to do with it. Already, it has been severe
against Delaware North. I have made my
opinion known to them. And if you’re pissed off at them for their anti-American
tactics, feel free to let them know what you think as well. Here is the link to their “comments”
page.
While the facilities at Yosemite are
not yet being named for corporate sponsors (so far there won’t be a Comcast
Majestic Hotel or a Netflix Motor Inn), the mere thievery by Delaware North of
historic property names should be enough to entice many to shove the directors
of Delaware North off the face of Half Dome, and take with them their greedy
money grubbing hands they are trying to stick into each one of our pockets.
