Hotel and taproom planned for Ski Inn

At about 2:20 p.m. on a blustery day in early December 2013, a powerful gust of wind uprooted a massive ponderosa pine on Cascade Avenue, sending the trunk crashing through the front of the Ski Inn restaurant. No one was hurt, but the venerable old Sisters institution was destroyed.

Now, it’s being resurrected in a new form.

If permits are issued by mid-summer, construction on the new Ski Inn hotel and tap room will begin soon after. According to the projected timeline, the Ski Inn could be operational by fall 2020.

Pacwest Builders have designed and will build the new hotel and taproom on the site of the original Ski Inn, where the building was removed in the wake of the 2013 tree incident.

Jim Yozamp and his family, Sisters residents for the past decade, will own the new two-story property. The enterprise will be a family affair, as the Yozamp children and their families are returning to live in Sisters and be part of the operation.

“We love Sisters and want to invest back in the community,” Yozamp said.

They will be working with Sisters Meat and Smokehouse to provide their products in the tap room. They also hope to hire local tradespeople to work on the project.

They purchased the site from the Palmer family who is providing them with old photographs of the original Ski Inn for the walls of the new one.

“We, with the support of the Palmer family, will carry on the nearly 50-year-old ‘Ski Inn’ name to pay homage to the history of the site and the original restaurant. The preservation and use of the original sign, along with other details, will be part of this preservation,” Yozamp said.

“Our rooms will offer a five-star experience with the obvious benefit of being locally centralized to the downtown vibe of Sisters,” said Yozamp. “The tap room menu will evolve during the construction period and we encourage Sisters residents to weigh-in on our upcoming Facebook and Instagram pages.”

They want to know what the residents of Sisters want for food.

The cedar barn-board-clad building is surrounded on three sides by a stained concrete patio, which is covered on two sides by the upstairs deck. During the good weather, overhead roll-up glass doors and windows will allow for a spacious indoor-outdoor flow. Heat lamps will extend the outside season.

The main double-door entrance facing Cascade opens into a large saloon area with a brick fireplace for the colder months and the roll-ups for the warm ones. Other spaces on the 3,265-square-foot main floor include the kitchen, restrooms, storage and office, the bar, a beer cooler room that feeds the beer taps, and seating at raised counters in front of the roll-up windows, as well as tables and chairs.

The 2,670-square-foot second floor, where the five hotel rooms are located, is surrounded by a wide wooden deck and railing, with doors from each of the rooms opening onto the deck. The largest room, located at the front of the building, has a kitchenette. All five rooms have private full bathrooms. Access to the second floor is provided by both interior and exterior stairways.

Also found upstairs is a proprietor’s unit for Yozamp’s son-in-law, Brady Rhodes, who will be the operations partner and manage the tap room.

The total building footprint covers 3,265 feet of two-and-a-half lots at 310 E. Cascade Ave. The overall height of the building

is 29 feet.

The project has been designed by Steve Van Sant of Pacwest Builders, who has enjoyed a long career in Central Oregon, from the early years with Brooks Resources at Black Butte Ranch in the early 1970s, to today designing Pacwest projects.

C. A. Rowles is the structural engineer and acts as Pacwest’s land-use conduit with the City of Sisters.