All this can be yours:Just bring money > Big Squaw goes on auction block

All this could be yours:

A 1,200-acre ski area with 15 ski trails, 2,000-foot triple chairlift, 6,000-foot double chairlift, T-bar lift, and snowmaking/grooming equipment;

A 61-room hotel with swimming pool and lounge;

A two-story base lodge with cafeteria, lounge, ski shop, kitchen and two dining rooms;

A second lodge and a number of smaller buildings;

A 12.3-acre parcel with 2,600 feet of water frontage on Moosehead Lake, plus four docks, 10 moorings and a boat ramp.

A public auction of land, buildings, furnishings and equipment owned by the bankrupt Big Squaw Mountain Corp. will be held Thursday, Aug. 2, at Squaw Mountain near Greenville.

The registration of bidders will begin at 10 a.m. in the resort’s main lodge. People interested in the ski resort must have a $50,000 deposit — in cash or certified check — to obtain a card allowing them to bid. But the public is invited to watch the auction, which starts at 11 a.m.

The auction will be conducted by the Keenan Auction Co./CSM Real Estate of Kingfield. The company was established in 1983 to sell residential, recreational, industrial and commercial real estate at auction.

C. Susan Mason, a principal in the firm, said Thursday that all the land and buildings owned by Big Squaw Mountain Corp. would be sold in one package. That should comfort some residents of the Moosehead Lake region, who worried that the economic viability of one of the area’s largest employers would be destroyed if the ski resort were sold in pieces.

Potential purchasers have called from all over the country to ask about the property, according to Mason. She was uncertain if there were any interest from outside of the United States. Several groups of people — including principals, attorneys and consultants — toured the ski resort during an open house July 20.

“We’re feeling positive,” said Mason.

Gary M. Growe, the court-appointed trustee of Big Squaw, also expects the auction to be a success.

“We’ve had at least four serious offers, maybe more,” said Growe.

Big Squaw Mountain Corp. was formed in 1986 by a group of investors who bought the resort from the state. Led by James E. Clair Sr., a Massachusetts car dealer, the investors paid $300,000 for the facility and promised to make improvements worth $700,000.

But Big Squaw was forced into bankruptcy last April, when a federal judge granted a request from creditors of the ski resort to force the sale of its assets under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

In papers filed at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor, Big Squaw lists about 170 creditors. The total value of the claims has not been revealed.