Blight in Bonanza neighborhood gets recycled

Often it’s the quick demolition route developers will take to get rid of one project to build another. Materials are thrown in the trash with no consideration for their reuse potential. This is not the case with Edgewood Companies and the sustainable deconstruction effort at 1209 Bonanza Avenue, the site of the former C&M Lodge in South Lake Tahoe.

“In November, we first initiated a recycling program at the C & M Lodge site by donating all the furniture and fixtures to several regional non-profit organizations. On June 22, we continued our recycling effort with the physical removal of buildings that resulted in a significant amount of salvageable material made available for recycling,” stated Brandon Hill, Project Manager for Edgewood Companies. “This is sustainable deconstruction versus pure demolition and landfill. In the end, we were able to recycle well over 50 percent of total material by weight,” Hill continued.

With the community and environment in mind, and with the deconstruction and recycling process complete, Edgewood Companies is currently in the process of permitting a neighborhood park at the Bonanza site late this summer/early fall. In a partnership with the City of South Lake Tahoe, the company will donate one-acre of land to the City for the new park. “The deconstruction process is our first step to improve the environment as we are turning the blighted C&M Lodge site into a much appreciated neighborhood park,” said Hill.

To identify the best use of the 1209 Bonanza site, more than 200 people from the South Lake Tahoe community were invited, during May 2011, to contribute ideas.  The over-riding preference that surfaced from the community input was for a place for children to play and for the community to gather. Additionally, environmentally friendly design components are being planned for the park including solar lighting, recycling containers, low flow irrigation and a demonstration garden.

Edgewood Companies plans to continue its environmental redevelopment by creating the Edgewood Tahoe Lodge, a unique world-class destination that delivers significant economic and water quality benefits to Lake Tahoe on the current Edgewood Golf Course site.  

The Lodge will attract new visitors who stay longer and drive less. The state-of-the-art, LEED designed Lodge project will include unprecedented water quality improvements for the Edgewood Creek watershed.  Edgewood Companies aims to exhibit proactive leadership with regard to economic and environmental improvement for South Lake Tahoe, aligning with the Prosperity Plan regional collaboration strategies.
Currently the project is under review by TRPA and the draft EIS will be available for public review by the fall of 2011. For more info, click here.