by Carrie Watters – Nov. 21, 2009 08:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa begins celebrating its 80th anniversary on Thanksgiving.
Eleven days later, on Dec. 7, the West Valley landmark will go to auction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Kabuto Arizona Properties, which purchased the resort in 1996 filed for bankruptcy in May.
JDM Partners LLC, which includes Valley businessman and sports executive Jerry Colangelo, may bid $45 million for the Litchfield Park resort and two Kabuto-owned golf courses at the Arizona Biltmore Country Club in Phoenix, according to court documents.
The bankruptcy sale is one more sign of the recession that has left several posh Valley resorts in the grips of foreclosure.
Few have the history that the Wigwam can claim.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. executive Paul Litchfield opened the Wigwam in 1918 as an executive retreat for the company, which relied on cotton grown in nearby fields. The 24-room resort opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1929. At the time, guests would receive their room key and a horse for transportation.
The modern-day Wigwam includes 331 hacienda-style casitas, three 18-hole golf courses, three restaurants, an Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa and 8,000 lush rose bushes in full bloom.
“To let a place like this bite the dust would be almost a sin,” said Les Sossaman, who has worked at the Wigwam since he was 27. The doorman is now 68.
“I wish I could take you back and walk you around,” he said.
As if recalling a memory from last week, a gray-haired Sossaman remembers pulling up to the resort for the first time in his 1963 Ford F-100.
An employee came over to ask if he was looking for work. He was hired on the spot for $90 a month plus room and board.
Customer service at its best
Happy to share four decades of memories, the doorman sat down with the Republic to share his tales.
One of his favorites was the time, in the late 1960s, when a busload of Californians departed after a stay at the resort. Upon discovering a left-behind suitcase, a town truck driver was called to chase after the bus. He trekked across the California line before catching up with it.
To Sossaman, it shows the service that Wigwam guests came to expect. Resort employees became part of the traditions that guests expected year after year.
Of the Wigwam’s 440 employees, 47 have worked at the resort more than 15 years. Several, like Sossaman, mark their tenures in decades.
The resort’s first golf pro was the late V.O “Red” Allen. His son followed, and his grandson, Craig Allen, now serves as the golf pro.
“Everything in this whole Valley has changed, but the Wigwam stayed the same,” Sossaman said.
The luxury resort tucked into the laid-back Litchfield Park community doesn’t boast the nightlife of resorts in Scottsdale or Phoenix.
But its low-key luxury has attracted a fair share of celebrities.
Sossaman recalled that Hank Aaron didn’t say much, but major league baseball’s home run king gave him one of the bats that had been made up to commemorate his 400th home run.
In the 1970s, an Electra Records shindig filled the resort with singers such as Carly Simon and other bands of the era. “You might remember a group that was setting the world on fire back then,” Sossaman said. “Bread.”
Celebrities and athletes continue to stay at the Wigwam, in part because of its proximity to Jobing.com Arena, University of Phoenix Stadium, Cricket Pavilion and spring-training ballparks around the West Valley.
Investing in the Wigwam
At least part of Colangelo’s interest in purchasing the resort likely stems from his announcement last year that USA Basketball, which trains young players and Olympians, would relocate its training center to the sports and entertainment district in nearby Glendale.
Despite the impending change of ownership, Greg Miller, vice president and managing director for Destination Hotels & Resorts, which manages the Wigwam, said the sale would have no impact on the resort or its golf courses.
The resort is one of Litchfield Park’s biggest employers and revenue generators.
“It’s always traumatic when you see one of your major corporate citizens go through a financial transition like this,” Mayor Tom Schoaf said.
But he’s optimistic the Wigwam will come out stronger and more financially sustainable.
The resort also is a partner with the city in hosting community concerts on the Wigwam’s front lawn, and events such as the holiday tree-lighting ceremony.
“Litchfield Park and the Wigwam were both the children of Paul Litchfield. We’ve kind of grown up together,” the mayor said.
Schoaf is scheduled to be among attendees of the resort’s 80th anniversary celebration.
Sossaman also will be there to share his memories.
