Tenaya Lodge Acquired
Resort purchase is first outside of Yosemite for Delaware North.

by Dennis Pollock
The Fresno Bee, June 15, 2001

Delaware North, the company that launched an aggressive nationwide park acquisition strategy when it took over concessions at Yosemite National Park in 1992, has taken another bold step with the purchase Thursday of the Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp.

It's the first time the Buffalo, N.Y.-based company has acquired a resort outside of park lands, said Dennis Szefel, president of Delaware North Parks Services. But because of Tenaya’s reputation and because it is perched just outside the gate to Yosemite, Szefel said it dovetails well with the company's business operations inside the park
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"It’s a first-class facility and fits well with what we do in the park," said Szefel in a telephone interview from another tourist spot where Delaware North has concessions, the Kennedy Space Center. "It’s a very successful operation and we see it giving us the ability to serve those who want to come to Yosemite when we can't accommodate them at lodging in the park."

The sales price was not disclosed by Delaware North or the seller, Tenaya Holding Inc. Both are privately owned companies.

Tenaya had been managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts in Denver.
The resort hotel, just two miles from the park entrance, touts its nine conference rooms, and Szefel said they will augment his company’s in-the-park efforts well. "At Yosemite we’re not allowed to book conferences at the height of the summer season," he said. "The park service doesn’t want one group, for example, tying up 100 rooms."

Szefel said the acquisition will enable the company "to reach a broader audience" eventually when reservations there will be handled through its offices in Fresno, where 1.2 million calls a year are fielded for bookings at the many Delaware North holdings.

Its portfolio also includes Sequoia National Park, Asilomar Conference Grounds, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the U.S. Mint in Denver and Philadelphia.

With Thursday’s acquisition of Tenaya, the company put in place new managers for the hotel.

Val B. Hardcastle was named managing director after being general manager of the Ahwahnee Hotel and director of hotels with Yosemite Concessions Services Corp. He was with Marriott Hotels for about 15 years before joining Delaware North. Donald M. Ponniah, formerly assistant general manager at Yosemite Lodge, was named general manager of the property.

"My biggest challenge is to make sure we can retain as many staff members as we possibly can," Hardcastle said. He said the hotel employs more than 300, including part-timers, during the resort season.

"I think this will enable us to work on sale and promotion of this whole area," said Hardcastle, a resident of Oakhurst.

Hardcastle said he would like to expand spa services at the hotel, which opened in 1990 and was renovated in 1999. It has 244 guest rooms ranging in price from $185 to $229. It has indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center and spa services. The hotel is named for Chief Tenaya of the area Ahwahneechee tribe.

Delaware North began as Emprise 85 years ago with popcorn stands and expanded into racetracks and sports concessions. In 1972, as Emprise, the company was fined $10,000 and convicted in a conspiracy in which organized-crime figures used company funds to acquire the Frontier hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Since then, the company has worked to lose that shadow, contributing to charities and pioneering recycling at sports concessions.

The parks activity is just one of the entities of Delaware North Companies Inc. It has a multinational food service and hospitality company with operations throughout the United States, Canada and the Pacific Rim; owns the $160 million Fleet Center in Boston; operates 300 food service and retail facilities in more than 30 U.S. airports; is the nation’s largest pari-mutuel owner and operator and is a major concessions player in major- and minor-league sports parks.