Fall Creek Falls New Lodge On Track For Fall Completion, Ideally Opening In January

Construction on the new Fall Creek Falls lodge is on track for fall completion.

Park Manager Jacob Young said construction of the new building is about 95 percent of the way finished.

“Parking lot’s been paved,” Young said. “landscaping is in, irrigation is in, grass is starting to grow. Most of the furnishings in the building are in. The bedding, the rooms are fully furnished. The common areas, the furniture’s going in the restaurant.”

Young said that the work did run into some issues with getting materials for the pool and some displays. He said that despite some of these delays, most of the needed items will be ready by the first of September.

Young said that with personnel hiring and other finishing touches, he expects the lodge to be open to the public sometime in January.

“The reason being is their reservation system is still being set up and the staffing is going on right now,” Young said. “They are hiring the general manager and the chief of maintenance as we speak (…) Then they’ll start hiring more of the staff for that building. But as you know, that’s not an easy task right now, so that’ll take a little bit of time.”

Young said that the site could have some state groups come through as a test to ensure the facility is working properly and the staff is prepared for a public open in the new building. He said that Fall Creek Falls has been anticipating the opening because it feels like a piece has been missing for the organization.

“We’ve been watching the old one come down and that was sad,” Young said. “And we’re watching the new one come up, so there’s a lot of anticipation in the air, and we’re ready for it. It’s going to be something else because the park the last two years has been so busy, and we’re assuming it’s just going to be busier, which is a good thing. “