BUTTE - Right now, you can take a long, bumpy ride on a school bus to the Our Lady of the Rockies statue. But possibly in the future you could take a short, smooth ride in the sky on a tram to the 90-foot statue. And some folks have a dream to build what they say could bring an economic boon to the Mining City.
“To me, it would be the second miracle of the Our Lady of the Rockies,” Our Lady of the Rockies Board President Ron Gallardo said.
For Ron Gallardo, the first miracle was in 1985 when the 90-foot-tall statue was first put atop the East Ridge by volunteers.
“The Lady of the Rockies has always been something that was near and dear to me. When I was 12, the Our Lady of the Rockies got put on the hill,” Gallardo said.
The board now wants to build a gondola to take passengers to the statue. Currently, there are only three bus or van tours a day during the summer months. It takes about 45 minutes to get people up the hill on a choppy, dirty road. They’re lucky to serve just under 100 customers a day.
“Our Lady of the Rockies, for the most part, she just remains inaccessible,” he said.
A gondola would be a 12-minute ride from the ground, over Interstate 15 and up to the statue. They estimate they can serve 200 people an hour.
The board has an affiliate with the Doppelmayr Group to build the gondola, and they are trying to raise a stake of $5 million. The Our Lady group is seeking local investors in the project to cover the costs for the multi-million-dollar project.
A fundraiser for this project will be held Friday, Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Covellite Theater, featuring music and the showing of a documentary on the building of the statue called “On the Mountain. “
Gallardo believes the gondola could become a reality in the next few years.
"To me, it would bring those feelings back from 1985 for a whole new generation,” he said.
