Cedar Creek Lodge opens in C. Falls

The $7 million-plus Cedar Creek Lodge and Conference Center opened Friday in Columbia Falls, and the place is hopping.

Reservations are strong, with high interest in the 5,000-square-foot conference center, Sales Manager Robin Eickerman said. Weddings already have been booked at the new facility, along with Christmas parties, the American Legion state meeting and Columbia Falls High School’s 40th class reunion. A film crew will fill the hotel later this month.

“The place is selling itself,” she said.

The three-story, 64-room hotel is the first sizable lodging facility to be built in Columbia Falls. Located off U.S. 2 just east of Pinewood Park and the Columbia Falls city swimming pool, the project is one of developer Mick Ruis’ centerpiece projects for his hometown.

Ruis lived in Columbia Falls for many years and became a successful contractor. He moved to San Diego in the late 1990s to grow his company in the shoring and scaffolding industry. He sold his company a few years later and joined American Scaffold during its start-up. As a business developer for that company, he built a substantial workforce and American Scaffold became a primary contractor for the U.S. Navy.

He always planned to return to Columbia Falls and give back to the community. The hotel is the first of a long list of business endeavors he has cooking here.

Cedar Creek Lodge reflects the Glacier Park lodge atmosphere Ruis intended to create. Rock work leading from the entrance to the front desk simulates a flowing stream, complete with hand-painted fish. Towering cedar trees are incorporated into the design.

“We wanted a lodge feel,” Ruis said. “I’m very pleased with how it all came together.”

The hotel was built in just seven months.

Ruis Construction Project Manager Erick Enz, who also is the interim general manager of the hotel, said it was an aggressive schedule that didn’t allow for errors.

“The only way we were successful is that the design team, the subcontractors and everyone worked together,” Enz said. “We challenged everyone and they delivered.”

Cedar Creek Lodge has a breakfast area for guests, 24-hour coffee bar, swimming pool, hot tub and fitness room.

The spacious conference center has a 461-person capacity and is equipped with a large projector and optional portable dance floor. It can be divided into two meeting rooms for smaller groups.

A pre-conference gathering area connects to an outdoor court and seating area that features a gas fireplace and stage space for a band.

The rooms — decorated with paintings of moose and other wildlife — offer a mixture of king and queen beds. The honeymoon suit has a gas fireplace and a walk-in shower with three rain-dome shower heads.

It’s what the guests don’t see that may be the most impressive. Ruis spent an extra $250,000 to install sound membrane and gypcrete on the floors for sound reduction, and rock wool between the rooms further reduces sound transfer, Enz explained. Rooms closest to the elevator and vending machines have special sound barriers.

“We have the quietest hotel in the valley,” Ruis said. “I travel 260 days of the year, and I want guests to have a quiet experience. I want everyone to be so happy to be here.”

A ground source geothermal heating and cooling system is another amenity.

All totaled, Ruis spent $1.2 million in “extras” such as wainscoting in the conference center, rustic walnut woodwork and top-of-the-line light fixtures.

Ruis said he made a concerted effort to hire local firms and workers throughout the construction process.

“Over 70 percent of all the construction people were from Columbia Falls,” he said. “We just really try to go out of our way to hire local. About 95 percent of the staff are Columbia Falls residents.”

The hotel has a staff of about 25 employees.

He’s quick to credit the myriad businesses that had a hand in getting the hotel completed. Piney Creek Interiors and Home Matters were involved in the furnishings. Architectural Woodwork-Montana did the walnut woodwork, Lilienthal Insulation Co. and Schuman Construction headed the sound reduction materials, Northwest Plumbing and Heat Tech tackled the geothermal system, Columbia Falls painter John Jackson painted the entire hotel, DCS led the sound system and technology installation, and SEM Electric was another pivotal player.

Those are only a few of the subcontractors who worked on the project. Ruis said he also would be remiss not to mention Jeff Bailey, who was the best man at his wedding and now works for Ruis Construction. He handled the cedar tree trunk installation and had a role in developing the front lobby river theme.

“We wanted something that when people come here, they’ll remember it 30 years later,” Ruis said.

For more information, go to www.cedarcreeklodgehotel.com or call 406-897-7070.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.