Sugar Loaf saved; kudos to Conservancy

Bravo for the Leelanau Conservancy which is on a path to acquire the long-dormant Sugar Loaf property for $8 million.

The Conservancy has raised $6.4 million of the $8 million fundraising campaign and given the history of the property, the site of the much-loved but long-dormant recreational area, shouldn’t have trouble raising the balance by a Dec. 31 deadline.

Sugar Loaf was inaugurated as a ski park in 1947 and remained one of the largest employers in the area for over half a century before it closed in 2000. Although it was once a successful resort, the cracks had started to show by 1981, when its owners defaulted on their loans.