If you’ve ever wanted to hit both the beach and the ski slopes in the same day, a solution for you may be coming to the town of Sunrise, Florida. Sunrise, located in Southern Florida less than an hour away from Miami, may soon be home to the world’s largest winter sports complex. The complex, called Pelion Sunrise, will be the first of its kind in the United States. Indoor ski slopes are not especially new; they exist in countries around the world, including Japan, Germany, Belgium, China, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, among others. However, as of yet, the United States does not have any indoor slopes. Southern Florida would certainly be an interesting location for the first U.S.-based indoor ski resort!
Pelion Sunrise would be located between the BB&T Center and the Sawgrass Mills Mall. The developer, Norman Cantor, has plans to make Pelion Sunrise into more than just indoor ski slopes, as if that weren’t an ambitious enough project. The winter sports complex would contain ice skating, snowmobiling, sledding, and tubing facilities, in addition to the 2,700 foot ski slopes that have been proposed. The facility will be kept at 31 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, there will be a separate facility with non-snow-related activities like go-carts, laser tag, and paintball.
Pelion Sunrise has a goal of making the new facility as environmentally friendly as possible. As a matter of fact, they’re aiming for a LEED Platinum rating, which is as good as it gets. Some of the highlights of their plan include a green roof, biofiltration, indigenous landscaping, solar cooling, and hook-ups for electric cars. There are also plans for a waterfall that does double duty as a cooling tower, skylights, environmental art, and a robotic parking garage. Also, the snow will be made out of greywater, so don’t plan on eating it. The building itself is supposed to resemble an iceberg. The plans also call for a rooftop restaurant that offers views of the green roof and the Everglades in the distance.
Another developer has proposed building a casino in the same area. If both the casino and the Pelion project go forward, the Sawgrass Mills Mall area, already popular because of the large mall itself and because of the BB&T Center, an arena that is home to the Florida Panthers and host to a variety of concerts and events, could explode into quite the massive entertainment offering for residents and visitors to the area. An arena, mall, casino, and a unique winter sports complex would offer visitors to the area a large variety of easily accessible entertainment option, possibly making Sunrise a must-visit spot for visitors to the area.
