Hagadone pulls plans for new Coeur d’Alene Resort tower

Hagadone Hospitality says it has suspended plans to build a 12-story addition to the Coeur d’Alene Resort after members of a city commission criticized some elements of the tower’s design.

Construction on the project, including 158 guest rooms and eight suites, was to begin next fall.

The company presented details of the design Thursday to the city’s Design Review Commission.

Commission members said the addition – in particular, its flat roofline – didn’t blend well with the existing resort. One called it a “flat, flat box,” another described it as a “tourist warehouse,” and a third said it looked like a stack of “three Motel 6s.”

“We’ll move on and downtown will remain a vibrant, attractive place for locals and visitors alike,” Duane Hagadone, CEO of the Hagadone Corp., was quoted as saying in one of the company’s newspapers, the Coeur d’Alene Press.

The new building would have risen over the west end of the company’s Resort Shops between Sherman Avenue and the existing resort. The company said it would help attract more convention business.