“This has been part of our strategic vision for the space,” said McGrew. “It is a family-focused, kid-centric outdoor community center, period.”

Magic carpet journeys to Hailey

The carpet can move at different speeds, but during normal operations it will transport users upward at a rate of roughly 3 feet per second, said Rotarun Mountain Manager Julian Tyo.

It was constructed in Austria by Sunkid over the course of three months, sent to Los Angeles by boat, transported to Salt Lake City via train and finally trucked to Hailey in sections, McGrew said. He said the initial purchase was approximately $130,000, and installation fees were an additional $20,000. The price was up in the air at points in the process, however, due to U.S. tariffs which went into effect in August.

“That was such a moving target, [we were] not quite sure what the final price tag was going to be,” said McGrew. “Sunkid, the producer, they actually worked with us and covered a meaningful part of the tariff cost, which was awesome because that was sort of an unbudgeted question mark.”

The magic carpet arrived in Hailey on Thursday, Dec. 4, and construction was completed on Wednesday, Dec. 17, McGrew said.

“An upside of this warm weather is that we had great installation conditions,” McGrew said.

Like a Christmas miracle, the snow and rain did not come until after the project was completed.

Heather Foster, head of donor relations at Rotarun, said the magic carpet was made possible by Deida and Duane Runswick, Cynthia Carroll and Woody Marshall, the SPUR Community Foundation’s Community Grant Program, Rixon Excavation, Merrick Construction and Conrad Brothers Construction.