Aug. 30--WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. Hard-charging, sleep-deprived coal baron Jim Justice claims to have never taken a vacation, has four phone lines running into his home to handle business -- he runs 47 companies -- and indeed seems too busy to exhale. But he says he has both the time and energy to save The Greenbrier resort.

Justice, 58, is the multimillionaire West Virginia mountaineer -- many here know him as the burly giant who plays Santa Claus at local churches -- who swooped in as Marriott International was preparing to buy the bankrupt hotel. Justice, owner of the Justice Family Group LLC, snatched it up on May 6 for what's considered a bargain-basement price of $20 million, leaving Marriott executives to wonder what went wrong.

Within days of Justice's purchase, the stately 635-room resort, with its 6,500 acres, three golf courses, tennis courts, riding stables, spa, movie theater and upscale shops -- not for nothing is it known as the "playground of the rich" -- was out of bankruptcy.

The following month, The Greenbrier announced that it was going to build an elegant, 50,000-square-foot "Monte Carlo-style" underground casino at a cost of $25 million. The groundbreaking was last Monday.

And this month, Justice announced that The Greenbrier will host an annual PGA golf tournament with a $6 million purse, an event expected to put more than 20,000 spectators in the gallery of the resort's Old White Course each year.

"I'm hardheaded enough to believe I can turn this around," said Justice, sitting in his makeshift office where workers have set up his brand-new deluxe treadmill. "And if I accomplish that, then this deal, at the sale price I bought it at, becomes the deal of the century."

More plans are buzzing around in Justice's head: He said he envisions a teen center at the resort with live bands, regular live theater and a new stage where internationally known acts such as Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand can perform for Greenbrier guests. And while the casino is under construction, he plans to set up a temporary gambling establishment with 10 gaming tables and 40 slot machines.

Residents and merchants here in the little city of White Sulphur Springs (pop. 2,300) say they are nothing short of astonished at the dizzying turnaround of the resort's fortunes. And they credit the "local boy" Justice as the one who has single-handedly given the community a chance to shake off its economic lethargy.

"We've got pretty good momentum going now," said John Gillespie, owner of Gillespie's Flowers on Main Street.

"There's definitely been an uptick of business," said Katie Ickes, executive director of the Greater Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce. "There are more people coming into shops, more people spending. It was a pretty oppressive time for a while.