Resort Renovation The Changes Are Designed To Elevate The Park Tower Rooms To The Five-Star Status Of The Lake Tower Rooms.

A major remodeling project that will enlarge and upgrade 108 rooms in the Park Tower of The Coeur d’Alene Resort will be completed by March 31, said Steve Wilson, general manager. A grand opening is planned for April 1.

The seven-story Park Tower is the center part of the hotel. Rooms face east or west and are above the lobby area. The 18-story Lake Tower is south of the Park Tower.

In the renovated Park Tower, east-facing rooms, which overlook McEuen Field, will have bay windows. West-facing rooms, which have lake views toward Coeur d’Alene City Park, will be enlarged by 80 square feet by encompassing (and losing) their current balconies with window walls. The floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall windows will slide open from waist high.

The newly designed rooms will include granite and marble in the entries and bathrooms, private mini-bars, oversized beds, walls with textured paper and Honduras mahogany, glass-topped tables and desks, 27-inch televisions, Internet connections, new heating and air-conditioning systems, separate seating areas and hand-built furniture. The changes are designed to elevate the Park Tower rooms - which will be closed during the renovation - to the five-star status of the Lake Tower rooms.

These changes are the most recent in the hotel site’s 54-year history.

Bob and Mary Templin bought the old Miller’s Cafe in 1946 and converted an adjacent apartment building into motel units, creating Templin’s Grill & Motor Inn in the early 1960s. The motel expanded to 44 units in 1965 and added Idaho’s first convention center in 1966.

The Templins built the seven-story North Shore Resort with its popular Cloud 9 Restaurant in 1973. That is now the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s Park Tower wing. Hagadone Hospitality acquired the property in 1982, and The Coeur d’Alene Resort with its Lake Tower was built in 1986. Meanwhile, the Templins built Templin’s Best Western Cavanaugh’s Resort and Conference Center along the Spokane River in Post Falls.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort complex has 330 rooms and 850 employees during peak tourist season. With cruise boat and golf course staffing the total reaches 1,200.

The new 16,000-square-foot building of Century 21 Beutler & Associates Real Estate will open next week at 1836 Northwest Blvd. in Coeur d’Alene.

Business owner John Beutler and 52 employees, 40 real estates agents and a support staff of 12, will move Jan. 21 from the building at 1900 Northwest Blvd. owned by Parkwood Properties. Beutler’s firm will occupy 12,000 square feet, while Western Garnet will lease 2,200 square feet.

A native of Clarkston, Wash., and graduate of Washington State University, Beutler came to Coeur d’Alene in 1975 and started his company in 1977.

Western Garnet, a Canadian company, will move its offices from 101 Ironwood Drive. The company mines 30,000 tons of industrial-use garnets annually from the Emerald Creek area near St. Maries. Sold to companies in 15 countries, the garnets are used for sandblasting, carving and filtering purposes.

Offering loans, small-business bookkeeping and budget consulting, Heritage Financial Services has opened at 157 W. Hayden Ave. (across from Super 1) in Hayden.

A full-service mortgage broker, the company’s “real passion is counseling people in what affects their financial status,” said Anita Chariton, who owns the business with Mick Watson. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Phone 762-7372.

With 30 vehicles available, U-Save Auto Rental of Coeur d’Alene was purchased by Sean Kendrick. U-Save has three full-time staffers and is at 6125 Sunshine St. (across from the Silver Lake Motel) near Highway 95.

The 10-year-old company is managed by Scott Webster, Kendrick’s friend during high school. Kendrick graduated in accounting and business from the University of Montana and is finance manager with Dave Smith Motors in Kellogg.

Hours at U-Save Auto Rental are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays by appointment. Phone 762-9554 or 1-877-660-3077.

A debit card, credit card or even a local check will get you into the movies at River City Cinemas in Post Falls.

The theater was purchased last fall by Oasis Entertainment of Port Orchard, Wash. The company has a long-standing policy of accepting Visa and Mastercard in addition to cash, said co-owner Dave Fazende.

“We try and run our cinemas like a hometown theater,” he said.

Oasis Entertainment has upgraded the theater to show first-run movies, added digital sound on two screens and expanded the concessions.

The theater also books private showings for groups, said manager Alison McCarrel.

Oasis Entertainment purchased the former Cinema 6 from Post Falls Entertainment Development LLC in September.

Oasis Entertainment operates four theaters in the Puget Sound area.

GTE plans a Jan. 28 grand-reopening of its Phone Mart store at Silver Lake Mall. The 3,000-square-foot store has a new layout and 900 additional square feet of space.

The store has consistently ranked second among GTE’s Northwest Phone Marts, trailing only Everett, Wash., said manager Nita Swensen.

Staff writer Becky Kramer contributed to this report.