01/18/2026
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First off, Happy New Year to all my personal friends and past employees, as well as the supporters and patrons of Bear Creek Lodge who helped make it a huge success. Each and every one of you contributed to making the lodge an icon of Mt. Spokane.
I sincerely appreciate those who have reached out after Washington State Parks and KHQ announced the planned demolition of the lodge. Over forty folks have contacted me since Thanksgiving asking what could be done to stop this unnecessary destruction of history.
When I decided to retire and sell the lodge to PARKS, I was assured that it would be preserved for future generations. We had higher offers from private developers, two of which wanted to create a “village” on the 106 acres. At the time of the sale, we truly believed that PARKS was the best option for preservation of this beautiful, historic facility. It now appears that we were misled during the negotiations.
The major problem with the lodge is that it was never truly finished at the time of construction. Consequently, it does not qualify for historical preservation. Each owner - Linder’s, Kirk’s, Resort at Mt. Spokane, Falk’s, Bear Creek #1 (Morey) and Bear Creek #2 (Deal Family) – put their mark on the facility. By the time that we arrived in November, 2002, there were a lot of unfinished/substandard projects that had to be finished and/or corrected. There were actually some good ideas, but previous owners abandoned the lodge when times became tough.
Weather during an El Nino or a low/no snow winter often provided insufficient profit to heat the facility. This caused previous owners to abandon their plans and sell out. Unfortunately, we were left with miscellaneous tasks to complete to avoid shutdown by various government regulators. The future appeared daunting at times. It seemed that every state inspector had a “pet project” that needed to be addressed in order to continue operations and avoid bankruptcy.
We (the Deal family) gradually corrected the deficiencies one-by-one while taking no salary. We simply lived in the lodge, ate out of the restaurant, relied on venison for red meat, and drank out of the bar. The lodge only provided transportation (“beaters with a heater”) and health insurance. Each and every repair was made better/stronger than existing Washington State codes. We managed to gradually correct each inspector’s concerns and stay in business.
The financial losses were horrendous in those early days – and took a huge toll on family relations – but we persevered. Our first major tasks were repairs to the fire escapes (to current codes), building a new spring house, and corrections to the leach field (by adding a curtain drain) so that it perked properly. We then built “The Garden” to host summer weddings, modified the commercial kitchen to cater events up to 250 quests (at Health Department specifications), and changed the boiler system to burn waste oil (reducing the cost of heating and domestic hot water to about $2500 per year).
Other major projects included landscaping the creek-side area and installing automated sprinklers to campground lawns. This project improved esthetics and built a better firebreak for insurance purposes. Our last focus was upgrades to the tubing hill equipment (to handle heavier loads), installation of snowmaking to insure Christmas operations, and larger parking areas to accommodate over 400 customers per day during winter.
With time, Bear Creek Lodge became a self-sustaining operation. Most folks don’t realize that from 2002 to 2023, all profits were spent repairing and upgrading the property. “Mountain folk” and friends of the lodge often volunteered their time and expertise. Repairs and upgrades were often completed at significant discounts while believing they were preserving the lodge’s future.
I am the last private owner of the lodge. I had the honor of direct contact to the Linder and Crofoot families (the original homesteaders on Mt. Spokane), both of whom were heavily involved in the lodge’s construction, maintenance and operation. They provided much of information regarding the “how to” and “why for” regarding the building. Their help and knowledge were invaluable - and it has been totally ignored and lost while making the decisions regarding that future of Bear Creek Lodge. It’s funny that PARKS never asked a single question to access this information - or the above upgrades and improvements - before making plans to demolish the facility. This reeks of lack of respect for local wishes by PARKS strategists.
The public that recently contacted me never envisioned that the lodge would be demolished by PARKS because it had insufficient historical value to Mt. Spokane – especially after spending $3.1M just to acquire it. At a recent public meeting at the Shadle Park library, PARK planners announced/published that public support for keeping the lodge intact was 53% to 47% in favor of restoration and maintaining the building. Last time that I checked, we often elect U.S. Presidents on closer margins.
One reason mentioned for imminent demolition was the high cost of maintaining the building as “closed”. If asked, I would have donated the entire furnishings to PARKS, kept the lodge open, and worked for a $75K/year salary so that PARKS budget was untouched while long term decisions were made.
Although I am fully retired and living in Coeur d'Alene, ID, I am available for questions and comments about the lodge’s future. It is my understanding that that demolition of the lodge is officially “on the table” until the April meeting of the PARKS Commission (which is tentatively scheduled for Spokane, WA). This FB page will be left up until that time if you wish to post comments about future plans for the lodge property.
There is still time to get involved, express your displeasure at the current plans, and save this historic building on Mt Spokane. Would you miss seeing that big brown building as you arrive at Mile Marker #15 and enter the largest state park in Washington? I certainly would!
Help stop this atrocity. This action will require public outrage at PARKS current plans. Now is the time to get involved.
