KEY POINTS:
Depending on your point of view, the new Skywalk jutting out over the southwestern rim of the Grand Canyon is either an irresistible attraction giving visitors a whole new perspective on the breathtaking scenery below, or an abomination that threatens to turn one of the great natural wonders of the world into Disneyland self-parody.
Either way, the latest project to draw visitors to Arizona's signature attraction is generating a lot of publicity. On Wednesday, the 21m wide horseshoe-shaped platform was slotted into place 1.2km above the canyon floor, before a large audience of news reporters, property developers and members of the local Hualapai Indian tribe. The Hualapai blew into gourds, burned sage and gathered around a spiritual leader called Emmett Bender who blessed the new structure even as he called it "the white man's idea".
For the next 12 days engineers will weld and harness the structure securely into place after which Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, will make a ceremonial first circuit of the horseshoe. Then, on March 28, the Skywalk will open to the public.
Visitors will don non-scratch booties and step on to the glass walkway to simulate a sensation of floating over the abyss. The Hualapai have languished in poverty since traffic stopped using Route 66, which runs through their settlement, Peach Springs. The canyon is no less beautiful at its western end but the Hualapai can't offer paved roads, hotels, restaurants, visitor centres, or even a decent supply of running water.
But it's just two hours' drive from nearby Las Vegas instead of four or five to the National Park.
Las Vegas developer David Jin bankrolled the project to the tune of NZ$44 million and the Hualapai agreed to it on condition they would own the Skywalk and any subsequent developments, and keep the lion's share of the profits.
The fear is the Grand Canyon will be seen as just another Vegas attraction. Some Hualapai tribe members, worry that greed will supplant more fundamental, spiritual values. The Skywalk and its associated projects sit on land where Hualapai ancestors are buried and tribal tradition has it that this corner of the southwestern American desert is the origin of human life. Is that an appropriate site for a tourist attraction?
Robert Arnberger, a superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, calls it a "travesty". "I understand the need for the tribe to consider economics," he has said, "but ... it desecrates the very place the Hualapai hold so dear."
Disgruntled tribe members, claim their ruling council approved the project without fully consulting the community. ""This is holy ground," said tribe member Leatrice Walema.
The counterargument is pragmatic - the Hualapai need to eat, educate their children, and improve their dilapidated houses, and the Grand Canyon is the only resource they have. Charlie Vaughn, the tribal chairman, dismissed critics as people who are "eating tofu and sitting in Phoenix with their plasma-screen TVs. Our tribe started in these canyons", he said. "We've always been here, we'll always be here."
Fans of the Skywalk argue it is at least an admirable structure, offering fine if not unique views.
- THE INDEPENDENT
