FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – Historic hotels and other beloved landmarks at Yosemite National Park will soon undergo a name change in a multi-million dollar tussle over who owns rights to the original names.
The Ahwahnee, a luxurious stone and timber hotel with stunning views of the park’s fabled granite peaks, will be called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. Curry Village, a woodsy family-friendly lodging complex, will be recast as Half Dome Village.
These name changes and others announced Thursday aren’t sitting well with everybody, but the National Park Service says they have to make them at least temporarily to ensure that visitors soaking up Yosemite’s natural wonders don’t have their experience spoiled as a messy lawsuit with the park concessionaire plays out in Washington, D.C.
Trademark disputes at Yosemite and elsewhere feed into a debate about the fate of other names synonymous with national parks and government-owned entities across the country. There also have been disputes at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, the Grand Canyon in Arizona and with other iconic pieces of Americana owned by the U.S. government, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
The new names at Yosemite are the latest twist in the dispute with Delaware North, the company that recently lost a $2 billion bid – the National Park Services largest single contract – to run the park’s hotels, restaurants and outdoor activities that draw visitors from around the world.