News

From the February 13, 2009 issue of The Spokane Journal of Business
Written by Mike McClean
Rendering by BSA Architects

Mount Spokane State Park proposes to develop a $20 million lodge that would serve year-round activities at its ski resort and wants to open the facility in 2013, during the state park system's 100th anniversary.

The state park is seeking $4 million from the Legislature this year to conduct a formal design study and to construct infrastructure for the project, says Brad McQuarrie, general manager of Mount Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park. If lawmakers approve the money, the infrastructure phase of the project, which would include installing water and sewer service at the proposed lodge site, would occur this year and next. The park would seek full construction funding for the 2011-2013 biennium. Last year, the Legislature approved $300,000 for a preliminary design for the project, which has been completed by a team led by Bellevue, Wash.-based SE Group.

The lodge would be located just east of the ski area's current main lodge and would be at the parking-lot level of the ski resort, McQuarrie says, so skiers and other visitors wouldn't have to climb a hill to get to it. "The current lodge is upslope from the parking lot," he says. "You have to hike to it."

Because the proposed lodge would be built at a different site, the ski resort could remain open at its current service level during construction, which, under the proposed schedule, would take two years, beginning in 2011. McQuarrie says SE Group estimates the lodge would need 37,000 square feet of floor space to handle current skier visits adequately and significantly more space to handle anticipated growth in visits to the recreation area.

"We would like to build it to meet current capacity and phase in additions as they are needed over time," McQuarrie says. Currently, the main lodge and ancillary buildings take up 22,000 square feet of floor space. "This lodge was built in the 1950s," McQuarrie says. "It's been added onto over time, but it's well past its useful lifespan. It's falling apart, and it's undersized, too." The proposed lodge would have larger areas for food and beverage services, a day-care center, ski school offices, a rental shop, and administrative offices. It also would include a year-round interpretive center, he says. " We would like a place for people to celebrate the history of the mountain," he says. The ski area dates back to the early 1930s and was one of the first in the West. It also was the first ski area to install double-chairlifts.

In the off-season, "People come up here, but we don't have anything for them to do," McQuarrie says. The proposed lodge would be used to cater events, including weddings, during the non-skiing season, he says.

The new lodge would create jobs, increase customer spending, and generate additional tax revenue during the construction phase and through expanded recreational operations that would follow, says a report prepared by E.D. Hovee & Co. LLC, a Spokane economic and development consultant hired by SE Group.

The resort has about 450 workers, most of whom are part-time seasonal employees, and an annual payroll of $1.2 million. When completed, the proposed facilities would generate 30 additional jobs, the E.D. Hovee report estimates. With the addition of year-round activities, the lodge would allow seasonal employees to earn added income by working more days, which would more than double the current payroll, it adds.

Annual skier visits at Mount Spokane have been between 85,000 and 90,000 since 2005. The report estimates visits could grow to 125,000, if the resort were used year-round.

As envisioned, the lodge wouldn't include overnight guest accommodations, McQuarrie says.

BSA Architects, of San Francisco, which he says is a well-known designer of day-use ski facilities, also is on the preliminary design team and has produced conceptual drawings of the proposed lodge. Taylor Engineering Inc., of Spokane, is the civil engineer on the project.

The design for the proposed lodge would harken back to the 1930s-era Civilian Conservation Corps construction style, with rugged rock-and-timber building materials that withstand extreme elements, McQuarrie says. It also would be somewhat reminiscent of the original Mount Spokane Lodge, which opened in 1940 and was destroyed by fire in 1951, just as a major addition to the lodge was about to open, he adds.

McQuarrie says he hopes the proposed project will qualify for state or federal stimulus funds.

"We're asking for funding for pieces that we can do right away," he says. "It's a worthy project, and there's an immediate need. It does bring money back to the state through taxes and concession rent."

The ski area takes up about 1,500 acres within the 14,000-acre Mount Spokane State Park. The state park also features a seasonal campground and 100 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.