Downtown Coeur d'Alene
Until the 1960s, the waterfront in Coeur d’Alene served as a steamboat landing, a lumber mill, a sea plane dock, a train yard, an area of industrial warehouses and a log storage area. In the 1960s, the transformation to a tourist destination began in earnest.
Section:Then & Now
Image One
Photo Archive
| The Spokesman-Review
Image Two
Larry Reisnouer Special to The Spokesman-Review
Until the 1960s, the waterfront in Coeur d’Alene served as a steamboat landing, a lumber mill, a sea plane dock, a train yard, an area of industrial warehouses and a log storage area. In the 1960s, the transformation to a tourist destination began in earnest. Many credit Bob Templin, a WWII veteran and restaurateur from Ritzville, Washington, for the first waterfront resort, a 44-room inn called the North Shore Motor Hotel, built by Templin’s Western Frontiers Inc. in 1964. A convention center was added in 1966. A seven-story tower, with a top floor restaurant called Cloud 9, opened in 1974. Although the lake and the hotel attracted visitors, it was Templin’s tireless salesmanship that built the convention business into an economic powerhouse for the Lake City. In an infamous business coup in the early 1980s, Templin lost control of Western Frontiers and new owner Duane Hagadone and partner Jerry Jaeger transformed the North Shore into the Coeur d’Alene Resort, incorporating the original North Shore buildings into the new complex. Beverly’s restaurant occupies the same space as Cloud 9. Templin built a new hotel on the river in Post Falls in 1986. Although he’s sold the hotel to the Red Lion chain, he still maintains an office there where he still works on projects and new ideas. He will turn 89 Sept. 23.
Share on Social Media