Enders will be open for the summer
The Enders is planned to maintain a 10 am to 6 pm schedule until Labor Day or so for museum tours.
In an effort to make the Enders Hotel as well utilized as possible while the process of exploring its conversion into a state park is ongoing, the City of Soda Springs has hired summer employees who, along with ShaLynn Hennefer, will be keeping the building open during the day for assistance with tours and information.
One of the many rooms full of intriguing artifacts on the second floor of the Enders. For some reason, this one calls to me...
The museum part of the building is planned to be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The conference/dining room at the rear of the building will continue to be available for event rentals, which will provide another source of revenue for the city from the building.
Since the city took over the administration and upkeep of the building, it has been used for recruitment/interview fairs held by local industry groups, wedding receptions, proms, the Festival of Trees, and other events. In addition to bringing in some money to go toward the upkeep of the building, having people in the location also prevents it from falling into disrepair through lack of use or inspection, and keeps what is perhaps the most iconic structure in town part of the daily life of the community.
As of the end of the last legislative session there are no updates on the status of the state park proposal made by then-councilman Paul Gritton, but the speed at which such a proposal can make its way through the necessary steps to reach a final decision can certainly be measured in years.
ShaLynn Hennefer at the front desk of the city's iconic Enders Hotel.
The proposed idea is the let the Enders Hotel function as something of a hub for a state park based around the captive geyser and nearby springs. In such an arrangement, the state would assume costs for maintaining and running the Enders as a state park building. As it stands, the upkeep costs and potential repair costs to the building create a financial challenge for the city. During the last couple of years, options including selling the building outright, converting it to serve as a city hall, or co-managing the building with other entities have also been explored.
Until the state park proposal has officially been decided on one way or the other, the city has said it will make sure that it is used as much as possible to keep it from falling out of repair.
