Steamboat Inn Planning To Reopen In March After Losing Water System
8:48 PM · Feb 1, 2021The Steamboat Inn is planning on reopening in March after having their water systems destroyed in the Archie Creek Fire last September. Although the fires did not burn any of the Steamboat Inn’s buildings it did destroy all of their water and septic systems. The fire forced the Inn to shut down early, essentially costing them three months of business to end 2020. Normally, Steamboat is open March through November but due to Covid they were unable to open until Memorial Day weekend. “We only we’re open for three months, instead of nine months last year,” Owner Melinda Woodward said. “We opened Memorial Day weekend. I think once we’re able to reopen people will come back and support us but it’s been scary.” Unfortunately, the Inn’s insurance did not cover the replacement of these critical systems. A GoFundMe page was started to help with covering the major costs to make the repairs. “Just our luck, in ground plumbing is not covered in our insurance,” Melinda Woodward said. “Apart from the valve house that was damaged when a tree fell, pulling out all the plumbing and water damage at the cottage from the firefighting efforts, most of the repairs had to come out of pocket.” The Steamboat Inn has already finished the septic repairs and run the water line from the spring back to the Inn. “The plumber should be here this week to replace all the plumbing in the valve house and that will reconnect the Inn to water.” Melinda Woodward said. “These repairs will allow us to reopen the restaurant, cabins, and suites on time on March 13th.” The cottages up Steamboat Creek and the Campwater Houses are expected to reopen by June as work continues by the Forest Service in those areas. “The GoFundMe helped out a lot. Thank you very much to all those that contributed,” Melinda Woodward said. “We can't wait to be up and running so we can welcome everyone back. We know how special this place is to the community.” The Steamboat Inn is hiring for a variety of positions that can be found on their website or their Facebook page. Melinda and her husband Travis Woodward are from Elmira and bought the Steamboat Inn on May 1, 2017 from the Van Loans. The Van Loans bought it in 1975 from the founder Frank Moore who opened Steamboat in 1957. Photo Courtesy of Stevi Sayler.