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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2021
Ski lodge restoration brings back family memories
By KYLE SPURR
The Bulletin
SANTIAM PASS — When the wind
blows through the pine trees here at the top
of the forest, it reminds Dann Boeschen of
his early childhood at the Santiam Pass Ski
Lodge. The sound always brings him back to
that time in his family’s history.
Boeschen’s parents, Arthur and Mary
Boeschen, operated the ski lodge from 1945
to 1948, a time when the lodge became a site
for leisure and recreation after World War II.
The lodge was built in 1940 by the Civilian
Conservation Corps but stayed mostly empty
during the war.
It was easy for people driving over the
pass to miss the lodge since it is tucked in the
woods across the highway from Hoodoo Ski
Area, which opened in 1938 in the Willamette
National Forest.
Boeschen, 77, who owns a winery with his
family in St. Helena, California, never for-
got about the lodge, even when it was aban-
doned and fell into disrepair for the past three
decades.
“I’ve thought about it a lot over the years,”
Boeschen recalled recently.
Boeschen was thrilled three years ago
when he heard about plans to restore the
lodge and save it from being demolished.
Dwight and Susan Sheets, former teachers
from Salem who moved to Sisters last year,
signed a fi ve-year permit with the U.S. Forest
Service in May 2018 to begin work on restor-
ing the lodge.
By 2023, the couple plans to have the
lodge open for daytime use.
Photos by Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
The couple formed the nonprofi t organiza- From left, HistoriCorps volunteers Laura Azevedo and Julie Buer move scaff olding during the restoration of the Santiam Pass Ski Lodge.
tion Friends of Santiam Pass Ski Lodge and
have raised about $1 million through grants on the National Register of Historic Places in
and donations. They are nearly halfway to 2018 for its unique architecture and its histor-
their goal of $2.5 million to fully fund the ical signifi cance to the region. The lodge was
used by a Presbyterian church group from the
restoration.
The funds raised so far have been enough late 1950s until 1986. It has been vacant ever
to make major improvements to the lodge. since.
Over the past year, the Sheetses hired crews
Boeschen never heard why his parents
from local job corps organizations and a decided to take on the challenge of operating
national nonprofi t agency, HistoriCorps, to a lodge in the remote wilderness. Boeschen’s
attach new siding, dig trenches to install elec- father grew up in Salem and taught himself
trical wires and address structural issues.
to ski and mountain climb at Santiam Pass,
The lodge is now safe for people to enter so Boeschen suspects that’s why he took over
and will be protected from
the lodge.
heavy snowfall this winter,
“He was in love with
‘THIS LODGE
the Sheetses said.
those mountains,” Boeschen
On one of the fi nal days
said.
WAS USED
of construction recently, the
After three years run-
Sheetses walked through the
ning
the lodge, Boeschen’s
BY SO MANY
two-story lodge and could
parents were worn out and
PEOPLE OVER moved to Milwaukie, south-
imagine what it was like in
the 1940s, when Boeschen’s
east of Portland, where
THE YEARS.
parents welcomed visitors.
Boeschen’s father opened Bend resident Jim Redmond, a volunteer with HistoriCorps — a nonprofi t historic preservation
A stone fi replace still sits
a tire shop and raised organization — hands a piece of siding to project supervisor Eric White in October while
WHEN WE
in a large community room,
Boeschen and his two restoring the Santiam Pass Ski Lodge.
STARTED
and pieces of wooden bed
siblings.
frames are left in the dor-
The lodge was a short
EXPLORING
mitory-style lodging area,
piece of the family history,
where visitors would spend
THIS PROJECT, but it holds a special place in
$2 per night.
Boeschen’s heart. He often
WE FOUND
“This lodge was used by
looks over old black and
so many people over the
white photographs that show
THOUSANDS
years,” Dwight Sheets said.
him as a toddler on his moth-
OF PEOPLE
“When we started exploring
er’s wooden skies or him
this project, we found thou-
skiing with his sister, Judy,
SAYING THEY
sands of people saying they
who was two years older.
spent all kinds of time up
When his father died in
SPENT ALL
there.”
2000, Boeschen’s mother
KINDS OF
The Sheetses could also
took the family back to the
envision what the lodge
lodge to spread his father’s
TIME UP
will be like when it reopens.
ashes. Boeschen remembers
They want it to be a place
his mother telling the family,
THERE.’
where people can store their
“this is where it all started.”
Dwight Sheets | Sisters
belongings when they ski at
Boeschen’s parents were
resident who is helping restore
Hoodoo or hike in the sum-
married in California, where
the Santiam Pass Ski Lodge
mertime. It will also be a
he was born. But they con-
place for weddings, live
sidered the lodge the begin-
music and other catered
ning of their lives together.
events.
“For her to say that, I took notice,”
“We want to bring it back so people can Boeschen said.
use it,” Dwight Sheets said.
Boeschen knew exactly where he would
Boeschen, who has returned to the lodge bring his mother’s ashes when she died
several times over the years, spent the month in 2006 — the same sacred spot in the
of September at a home he has in Black Butte wilderness.
Ranch so he could see the progress being
On trips back to the lodge, Boeschen is
made to the lodge.
fl ooded with memories. And every time he
“It’s very encouraging,” Boeschen said. hears that familiar sound of wind through the
“We admire the Sheets’ perseverance and trees.
their courage in getting started and continu-
“It just speaks to me and says, ‘this is what
ally planning to see it through.”
was built,’” Boeschen said. “This is what my
The 6,000-square-foot lodge was placed parents brought me to.”
SUB-BIDS REQUESTED
Astoria School District
Captain Gray School South Façade Renovation
Skanska is requesting bid proposals for Subcontractors
to complete the Captain Gray School South
Façade Renovation.
Bids Due: 12/1/21 @ 2PM PST
A Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting will be held virtually
on Wednesday, November 17th at 11am.
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MTID=m7058c46f93e16131c8aeab87ec4632c8
To join from a mobile device:
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The Request for Proposals are available here:
https://app.buildingconnected.com/
projects/6171c079e9eef900d0fd4c00/bid-packages
Project Contact:
James Ferris; james.ferris@skanska.com
Chad Schlottmann; chad.schlottmann@skanska.com
1010 NW Flanders St. Suite 500
Portland, OR 97209
Phone: (503) 382-0900
We are an equal opportunity employer and request sub bids from minority,
women, disadvantaged, and emerging small business enterprises.
23300913
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