A Colorado mountain town known for its horror stories is about to get even scarier. Aside from the impressive Rocky Mountain National Park next door, one of Estes Park’s top attractions is the Stanley Hotel. The hotel gained fame for inspiring Stephen King to write The Shining, and is already a magnet for people fascinated by horror books and movies.
The hotel is currently planning to build a huge film center and museum on the premises, dedicated to horror films. It’s called Stanley Film Center.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
The multi-million dollar project was created in part to drive business to Estes Park during what is traditionally a slow season for tourism.
Film center plans underway amid complex financing for Stanley Hotel
John Cullen is the current owner of the Stanley Hotel. He admits he can’t stand watching horror movies because they “keep me up at night,” but says he’s “very in tune with what his customers want.” Mr. Cullen’s plans for a film center and museum are the result of a deal brokered with the help of Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Economic Development and International Trade.
The film center will be operated in conjunction with Blumhouse, the horror film production company led by CEO Jason Blum.blum house He has produced dozens of hugely popular movies. “Insidious” and “Get Out.”
“The Stanley Hotel is a hallowed ground for horror fans, so this presence at the Stanley Film Center is a natural extension for Blumhouse. Fans will be closer to their favorite films than ever before. “I guess so,” Blum said.
The current value of the hotel’s assets is believed to be over $400 million. Karen agreed to a complicated deal. Sell hotel to Arizona nonprofit You will hold onto the property while the bond is repaid from your profits.
Stephen King’s inspiration 50 years ago
Karen bought the hotel out of bankruptcy 28 years ago for just over $3 million. He quickly found the hotel’s “Shining” history appealing. With the advent of the internet and social media, hotels have stepped it up even more as people have started sharing stories of haunted hotel visits. It was free advertising.
When Stephen King came to Colorado and stayed at the Stanley Hotel, he was inspired to write the horror classic. The popular Stanley Kubrick film The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson, was later released, but was actually filmed at a different hotel in Oregon.
“This is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, but it’s been 50 years,” said Cullen, who is looking forward to moviegoers coming to Estes Park to see more than just “The Shining.”
Learn more about Stanley Film Center plans
The Stanley Film Center has been years in the making, and some of the infrastructure has already been completed.
Stanley Hotel
At 80,000 square feet, the building will be larger than the current hotel and will include a theater for movies and concerts, as well as so-called “rooms” that will house museum-like exhibits of the horror film industry.
“The idea that we can come here and tear down the sets and send them down to little old Estes Park and have a constantly rotating, self-reliant re-creation of new movie IP (intellectual property) inventory is great,” Karen said. he said.
This could lead to additional film production or additional facilities on the Stanley property.
Funding will come in part from a $46 million Colorado Regional Tourism Grant.
Cullen hopes construction of the film center will be completed within two years. He plans to manage the property after the sale, but ultimately the sale agreement will effectively endow it as part of his legacy to support arts and education in the state, he said.
Tourism promotion for Estes Park during shoulder season
Supporters of the film center plan believe Estes Park, which already attracts millions of visitors a year thanks to Rocky Mountain National Park, has a chance to attract up to 500,000 visitors a year. ing. However, the national park’s tourist season is mainly limited to summer and early fall.
“We’re not rebranding the town, we’re just giving the five million people who already live here something different to enjoy during the summer. But more importantly is to give them a sense of place and destination during winter and inclement weather,” Karen said.
A spokesperson for Visit Estes, the town’s tourism bureau, said they work hard to attract tourists to Estes Park during non-summer months.
“We want to promote year-round tourism. We want to bring people here during the spring and winter shoulder seasons,” Claire Mohr said.
And of course, no matter what happens, horror fans always come to get a glimpse of the hotel itself, located in a beautiful Colorado mountain town.
“Last year, 182,000 people paid $30 to take a tour of the hotel,” Cullen said.
Related: How Colorado’s ‘Frozen Dead Guy’ ended up in a ‘haunted’ hotel
