On Tuesday, the names of the famous Yosemite landmarks' are set to change amidst the bitter legal battle of the Park Service against its former concessionaire, Delaware North. Work crews have put up new signages to some of the popular tourist destinations around Yosemite National Park as the park endorse a new vendor Aramark.
During the weekends, Delaware North, the locally based hospitality and tourism giant tried to offer a last-minute settlement to its competitor Aramark. Delaware North claimed that changing the names of the Yosemite landmarks are not needed. The company offered Aramark transferring names of Ahwahnee Hotel, Curry Village and other park venues while a compensation due to the former will be pending. However, Aramark dismissed the deal and instead pushed on Delaware to put down the case, Buffalo News reports.
"This dispute is like an ugly divorce, with the park-loving public as the children," San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders wrote.
According to Yahoo, the legal battle between National Park Service and Delaware North started in June after the park chose Aramark as its concenssionaire. The $2-billion contract covers a period of 15 years where Aramark will operate restaurants, stores, hotels and other Yosemite landmarks. The park was sued by Delaware North in September over a breach of contract claiming rights to the trademarks, which they priced at $44 million. Delaware North also wants compensation from the damages and other assets.
"This is corporate greed," Eric Raymond, a Bay Area resident said on Twitter while urging support for a petition that seeks the release of the names to the citizens of the United States, Reuters claims.
In response to the suit over the Yosemite landmarks change of names, the Park Service said that Delaware put a high price on the price of the properties. As per the court filings, the Parl Service valued the Yosemite landmarks value at $3.5 million. In January, the Buffalo-based company was shaken up when the Park Service claimed that they are pursuing the change of names of the trademarked properties.
The National Park Service and the Aramark have remained quiet whether a last-minute talks are happening to resolve the Yosemite landmarks' issues. Yosemite is one of the popular tourist destinations in the U.S. with 4.3 million visitors in 2015. At present, preparations in setting up of temporary signages are ongoing in Yosemite. As far as the National Park Service and Aramark are concerned, they are pursuing with the smooth transition of the concession from the Buffalo-based comapany while the case is ongoing.
