Kah-Nee-Ta Resort to close Sept. 5, lay off all 146 workers

Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Spa, a Central Oregon visitor destination for a half-century, filed a federally required 60-day notice Friday and informed workers that it will permanently close Sept. 5 and lay off all 146 employees.

Last fall, an investment firm, AV Northwest, partnered with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and announced it planned to invest $17 million in the resort, located on Highway 8 on the reservation.

In the closure notice filed Friday, the resort said, “AVNW continues to search for a pathway to financing.”

“However, with no lease in place, the resort cannot continue operating below a self-sustaining level,” the resort said, adding that the closure “is necessary to ensure we protect any further risk to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.”

“The Tribal Council has asked that we continue to search for an option that can enable KNT to be self-sustaining,” the notice said.

The statement also thanked the workers, telling them, “All of your hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed. We appreciate your efforts in providing our guests a relaxing vacation for the remainder of the 2018 season.”

“We hope you all understand the current condition and your continued support is critical during the next few months,” the notice concluded, urging workers to discuss concerns or questions with their supervisor.

The tribal newspaper, Spilyay Tymoo, announced the planned investment last October, noting that the Tribal Council had agreed in early 2017 “that closure of Kah-Nee-Ta at the end of the season would be necessary if they could find no alternative.,” noting that it “would be another fairly devastating blow to the reservation economy,” after the Warm Springs Wood Products Mill’s earlier closure. The hope was that the lease would be finalized by the end of 2017.

Resort officials were not available for comment late Friday, but the Portland Business Journal noted a 25-year lease with the tribes to run the resort was planned, but added, “It’s not clear if that lease was ever signed or if any investments were made.”

The tribes originally bought the hot springs and surrounding property in 1959 with funds from a settlement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers due to the loss of their traditional fishing grounds at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River due to construction of The Dalles Dam.

The resort also operated a casino at the resort from 1996 to 2012, when it opened Indian Head Casino along Highway 26 to capture more business from travelers between the Portland area and Central Oregon.

Kah-Nee-Ta also has survived some close calls over the years with wildfires burning across the reservation, a few that forced closure and evacuation of the resort.