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Wolf Creek Inn may reopen this summer State parks seeks concessionaire after extensive retrofit to bring inn up to code Comment By Mary Ann Bullard for the Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Mary Ann Bullard for the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 16, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Mary Ann Bullard for the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 16, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News WOLF CREEK — The historic Wolf Creek Inn has been closed for more than a year now, but plans are in motion to reopen the former stagecoach stop once a suitable operator can be found for the hotel and restaurant. Owned by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and classified as a "heritage site," the distinctive facility has been closed for extensive renovation since the winter of 2014-15. "That's when we started construction," says Perry Salvestrin, the manager in charge of all state park properties in Jackson and Josephine counties. The project was necessary to bring systems up to code while protecting the historic integrity of the building. "We're looking at about a million dollars in repairs, including a fire suppression system, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) upgrades," Salvestrin says. "You struggle when you have a historic building to make standard for people with wheelchairs or anyone with disabilities to access." He adds, "There has been so much demand to get this opened up." Located 20 miles north of Grants Pass, the iconic way station built along the Applegate Trail, with its white colonnades and two-story front porch, is an attraction for locals and tourists alike. The large Classical Revival style wood-frame building was built around 1883 and named the Wolf Creek Tavern. The name was long ago changed to Wolf Creek Inn, but the historic sign with the original name remains in place. In its earliest days, it was an important stop on the 16-day stagecoach journey from San Francisco to Portland. It's where Jack London completed his novel "Valley of the Moon." Clark Gable was a friend of the innkeeper in the 1930s and would stop by during his fishing trips to the Rogue River. Gable's wife, actress Carole Lombard, stayed there, too. So did Orson Welles. It was acquired by the State of Oregon in 1975. By then the Applegate Trail had long given way to Interstate 5. Park Ranger Ed Johnson, on-site manager for the renovation project, made sure all the historic aspects remained intact. "Many people were under the impression that we were doing a full remodel of the entire place. This was not a remodel. It was retrofitting a modern HVAC system for better management of temperature and humidity and a fire suppression system in an old building," Johnson says. "Eighty-eight upgrades, two public restrooms and nine guest rooms with private baths were affected. The restrooms had not been redone since the 1970s." Johnson adds that people won't really see much of the work that was done, and that's the point. "In order to keep it historic you have to protect the historic fabric of the building and that means you can't remodel the entire thing and make it look like a new house inside," he says. "When you are doing work on a historic building it's like having an original classic car and keeping all the appropriate numbered pieces of the car so you can rebuild it. In bringing the rooms up to code, the entire ceiling on the guest wing and dining rooms had to come down and go back up. The tongue-and-groove boards in the dining room and parlors had to go right back into the exact same place, the same orientation. Each board was numbered and labeled north, south, east or west." Now that upgrades are complete and furniture is being meticulously placed back after storage in on-site shipping containers, the next step is for the Oregon State Park and Recreation Department to hire a concessionaire to operate the facility. "We began taking bids the end of April, and that process will be open through the end of May," Salvestrin says. "In June, we'll be interviewing and selecting the top candidate and developing a contract for the concessionaire. They'll run the business and hopefully be open in July." Chris Havel of the parks department says, "I don't have an exact date on when it will open. We hope to have it open as quickly as possible, but since so much is dependent on the quality of the responses we get for the concessionaire, we wouldn't want to make a date and promise to open, then not have it work. We need to make sure we get the best possible concessionaire for this historic site." He adds, "We do want to get it open, as do many folks. But we don't want to do it the wrong way." The Wolf Creek Inn renovation project is largely being funded with money from the Oregon Lottery, which channels 7.5 percent of its profits to the state parks department under the terms of a 1998 statewide ballot measure. The department also generates revenue through visitor fees at state parks and recreational vehicle registration fees. Havel points out a bit of irony in that there are charging stations for electric cars at the Wolf Creek Inn and the site's original purpose in the late 1880s was a "recharging station." "This was a place for people and their horses to stop and recharge, and now this historic site is part of the electric highway," he says, referring to the West Coast Electric Highway network along Interstate 5 and other major routes in the Pacific Northwest. "There is something about Wolf Creek that makes it the perfect place to stop — back then, and now," Havel adds. "I think it's a testament to how enduring the spirit of Wolf Creek is, that it was selected as part of the electric highway." Havel, who is from Ashland, says he has a strong connection to the Rogue Valley. "What impresses me most is the way the community has gathered around the Wolf Creek Inn and supported it," he says. "It's easy for some old sites to fall by the wayside over time, but the people of the county and the people who live in Wolf Creek have been there to support us as we've gone through different challenges at the park. "They have been patient with us as we've been looking for the right kind of concessionaire. They really understand what they've got in their community and are willing to support it. Our commitment back to them is that we work as hard and as responsibly as we can to get this opened up." Visitors may stop and explore the area during the building's closure. Picnic tables, a portable restroom, electric vehicle charging station and rose garden are available on the grounds of the inn. Mary Ann Bullard is a freelance writer living in the Grants Pass area whose work appears frequently in the Daily Courier. By Mary Ann Bullard for the Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Mary Ann Bullard for the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 16, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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