Timberline Lodge, ‘jewel of the Northwest,’ to reopen
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Timberline Lodge will reopen to guests on Sunday, just days after a fire erupted that forced an evacuation but caused little damage.
Timberline’s John Burton told KOIN 6 News the Cascade Dining Room will offer breakfast beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday and staff will help guests get around the repairs and the water remediation.
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“There are challenges ahead, but we are through the worst of it,” Burton said and added the emergency response was “nothing short of remarkable.”
A fire broke out in the attic of the Historic Timberline Lodge on Thursday, April 18 (Clackamas Fire) A fire broke out in the attic of the Historic Timberline Lodge on Thursday, April 18 (Clackamas Fire) A fire broke out in the attic of the Historic Timberline Lodge on Thursday, April 18 (Clackamas Fire) A fire broke out in the attic of the Historic Timberline Lodge on Thursday, April 18 (Clackamas Fire) Clackamas Fire crews battle a 3-alarm fire at Timberline Lodge. April 18, 2024 (courtesy Clackamas Fire).
Kerry Tymchuk, the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, called Timberline Lodge a “jewel of the Northwest.”
It was built through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) launched by President Franklin Roosevelt to help the country emerge from the Depression.
“This was in the height of the Depression, 25% unemployment rates across the country,” Tymchuk told KOIN 6 News. “Most of the time they weren’t trained carpenters or trained craftsmen. They were just ordinary citizens out of work and they were put back to work to do massive projects across the country, including this jewel of the Northwest, the Timberline Lodge.”
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Its dedication brought the first notoriety to the lodge and another generation of people learned about it through a film.
“Franklin, the president, and Eleanor, the First Lady, came out to Oregon to dedicate the lodge in 1937, on the same trip they dedicated the Bonneville Dam,” Tymchuk said. “And then it was a star of the Jack Nicholson movie, ‘The Shining,’ in 1980. That added to its fame and added a lot of tourists going up there to see where the movie was filmed.”
Timberline Lodge, noted in film for serving as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, is shown Aug. 15, 2010, Timberline Lodge, Ore. The Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. Seventy three years later, Timberline is once again the recipient of federal recovery dollars, this time to address some aging infrastructure, as well as normal wear and tear on the building. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) timberline-lodge-01042017_388497 Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Timberline Lodge in 1937 (KOIN) Workers construct the Timberline Lodge as part of a Great Depression job effort (KOIN) Behold: The new pool and hot tub and the Timberline Lodge. (Photo courtesy of the Timberline Lodge) Glass paneling offers poolside mountain views. (Photos courtesy of Timberline Lodge)
The interior also has a story.
“The interior decorating, which again was largely done by WPA and CCC and they also had an arts project where artists were provided money and a stipend to do work. And much of the art inside Timberline was done by the Federal Arts Project. It’s a timeless classic.”
Timberline became a national historic landmark in 1977.
“It’s a classic, historic building that, almost 100 years later, tells the story of the Depression, what America went through and how America came out of the Depression,” he said.
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