Established in 1979 by U.S. mining conglomerate Phelps Dodge to house workers for their latest molybdenum, the town was built on promise and prosperity but delivered on neither. At its peak, 1200 people lived in Kitsault, but only 18 months after it had opened, the prices of molybdenum, a metal used in steel production, crashed and the mine shut down.
Phelps Dodge ordered everyone to leave Kitsault and bought back the homes from the residents. Some people had to be forcefully evicted, unwilling to leave their homes. By 1983, seemingly overnight, Kitsault was empty.
But as the mine closed and the last residents packed up and left, the power in Kitsault was left on. For 30 years, the town just sat there, as if it was waiting for people to return. Everything is still there and has been strangely well-maintained. The houses still have that same late 1970s decor, books are still in the library, names are still written on a tournament scoreboard at the sports centre.
Kitsault’s fortune changed in 2004 when the entire town was put up for sale. Indo-Canadian entrepreneur and businessman Krishnan Suthanthiran, saw an article about the sale in the newspaper. He had never been to Kitsault until he bought it for $5 million in cash. Krishnan began its resurrection with the hopes of transforming it into a resort for intellectuals, a sort of Shangri-La for scientists, engineers and artists. With seventy corporations to his name, Krishnan has said Kitsault is not about making money but about giving back.
No comments:
Post a Comment