The Colossal Cave Mountain Park near Tucson is getting an infusion of much-needed cash for repairs and operations. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to temporarily help the park while it searches for a new private firm to manage the property.
The board acted after a recent audit recommended that it spend more than $1.5 million to keep Colossal Cave Mountain Park open in 2015. Escabrosa, the park’s current management company, has lost about $2 million and Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll said the recession didn’t help.
“Attendance has dropped by about 50 percent since 2008 and that put a little bit of a crimp in the marketing plan for Colossal Cave," Carroll said. "They needed really to diversify some of their attractions by that point, but they neglected to do so."
Carroll said Pima County plans to ask southern Arizona voters to pass a $600 million bond either next year or in 2016 that would include funding for the park. But first he wants a new management company in place that’s excited about marketing the cave to eco-tourists.