Getting In Shipshape Remodeled Sandpoint Marina To Host Shops, Restaurant, Offices
The landmark Sandpoint Marina, which suffered from years of neglect, is being renovated into a multimillion-dollar waterfront restaurant, shopping plaza and office complex.
The project could spark a revitalization plan for Sandpoint’s entire downtown, including construction of a greenbelt and boardwalk along Sand Creek.
“It’s an exciting project for downtown and for Sand Creek,” said Jonathan Coe, Chamber of Commerce executive director. “The creek has long been an untapped asset for this community and to make it more of a focus could be a tremendous tourist draw.”
The massive, two-story brick marina, with rows of 25-foot tall windows, already has been gutted. A rotted second-story floor was ripped out and shovelfuls of pigeon droppings hauled away. Crews still are trying to chase away the birds that have roosted for years in the upper floors of the building.
“It was in pretty bad shape inside, but it’s a solid old building,” said owner and local businessman Ralph Sletager. His workers found rooms no one knew existed behind brick walls and under a concrete trapdoor.
Sletager bought the marina last year and rebuilt the docks and 120 boats slips in Sand Creek. He said he hopes the remodeling of the 86-year-old building will be complete by June, in time to pull in tourists off Lake Pend Oreille and U.S. Highway 95.
“Like everyone else, I always thought the marina would make a great spot for a waterfront plaza,” Sletager said. “We’re blessed to have a waterway running right through town and we’ve ignored it. I think we should capitalize on it and the time was right.”
Sletager is negotiating with a national restaurant chain to occupy most of the main level. Eight retail stores will be located on the main level with room for several more in the lower level.
An elevator will go to the second-level loft where 13 to 15 retail and professional offices will be located. Some of the spaces already have been reserved.
“We don’t have a commercial area to stop people when they first come into town. This will be an attraction that hopefully will help the entire downtown,” Sletager said.
The marina was built on the shores of Sand Creek in 1910 and overlooks the lake. It originally was a powerhouse that supplied electricity to the city for 40 years.
Sletager has renamed the building “The Old Powerhouse” to recapture some of that history.
City officials say the revived landmark could breathe life back into plans to fix up downtown. The boardwalk Sletager already built on Sand Creek and old-fashioned lighting planned for outside the marina is part of a decade-old idea to turn the creek into a tourist attraction.
The city once wanted a boardwalk that stretched from the marina to the Cedar Street Bridge, another landmark at the east end of town. The enclosed bridge spans Sand Creek and houses a retail store for Coldwater Creek, an international mail-order company.
“A boardwalk that would go back and forth along the creek and connect two landmarks has generated a lot of excitement and interest,” Coe said. “The idea has been kicked around in the past but the money and resources were never put together to make it happen.”
A boardwalk would give the town two main streets and increase boater access to downtown.
“With a creek walkway, people can boat in, tie up and wander back and forth between shops. I think it’s a worthwhile goal,” Sletager said.
The chamber plans to have an economic summit this month to talk with local businesses about improvements to keep the downtown alive.
The opening of a Wal-Mart store in Ponderay last summer has forced downtown businesses to band together. And with the marina project under way, Coe said, it’s an ideal time to form a cohesive business plan.
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