Historic Black Bear Inn awakens
Pictured is the Black Bear Inn, formerly known as the Black Bear Hotel, located next to Minnie’s Cafe in downtown Thompson Falls. The interior of the building is going through extensive renovation. (Carolyn Hidy photos/Clark Fork Valley Press)
Underneath it all, new posts in the basement are supporting the Black Bear Inn building in Thompson Falls, which is undergoing extensive renovation.
Black Bear Inn co-owner Daniel Mohr dives into the depths of the building’s restoration project in downtown Thompson Falls. (Courtesy photo)
“The Bear is coming out of hibernation,” says Daniel Mohr, owner of the National Historic Registry-listed Black Bear Inn in Thompson Falls.
After a year of deep structural, electrical, plumbing and aesthetic restoration work, the first businesses in the landmark building are expected to open in February: a family-oriented espresso coffee shop, and a hair salon, run by Daniel’s wife, Marlaina Moore.
“We’re in a phase-rolling project,” Mohr explains. “The building had been shut down and not heated. They hadn’t disconnected the plumbing, so it broke.” The resulting flood in 1990 started the demise of the support posts in the basement. As they rotted at their feet, the floors above buckled, and the old stone and brick walls started to lean in. “The building would eventually have fallen in on itself,” Mohr said.
The Mohr-Moore duo, who live and work in Seattle area, drive to Thompson Falls most weekends to work on the hotel. “This project takes passion, money and know-how,” Mohr says. His background — Mohr was in construction for years before entering the tech world and working for Microsoft — has helped contribute the latter two.
THE PASSION is Mohr’s desire to contribute to his new community. “There’s a difference between doing something for passion and doing something for profit. We’re thinking mainly about how to help make a sustainable, vibrant community, not how to make a buck,” he says.
“We want to make this a place that young families want to be,” Mohr adds. “So there won’t be a bar, a casino, a ‘you must be over 21’ room in this building. There’s plenty of that available. What isn’t available is a place where I can take my toddlers and hang out for three hours.”
Thompson Falls, he says, is deeply proud of its unspoiled characteristics, such as the river, the woods, the deer that wander all over town. “What we don’t have is industry, pollution, stop lights, all the things that you get from a Helena or Missoula or something like that. Thompson Falls cares about that as a people, that unspoiled natural quality. And,” he emphasizes, “we need more economic strength. More jobs, more income. So I asked, ‘What could you do that would serve both of those masters?’”
One idea he has is to possibly put a customer support call center upstairs. “These can operate anywhere in the world, it doesn’t matter where they are. And they don’t create an industrial footprint. You can train people who might not have a college education and they can make a living wage. What you need is office space, which we have a lot of,” Mohr says.
MOHR WAS a member and manager of a popular cover band in Seattle. This brings another passion to the Black Bear project, as he intends to create a live-music venue. Already, a stack of sound equipment and instruments awaits the future in the yet unfinished portion of the building. The grand ballroom will maintain its character and chandeliers, and will be available for events.
“We will have new windows, the brick outside will be restored — it will all be done by the time we’re done,” which Mohr places on a five-year timeline. He welcomes community interest and appreciates that everyone contributes ideas and energy to the process. “Nothing but good comes from that,” he says.
Mohr regularly posts videos and photos, and has collected several historical photos, online at black-bear-inn.com.