A hallway in the east wing of the The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs, formerly the Hot Lake Springs Resort, near La Grande, is in the midst of repainting Sept. 20, 2020, as the hotel gets a fresh look under a new owner.

LA GRANDE — A new look and name are in the works for the Hot Lake Springs Resort off Highway 203 near La Grande.

Grande Hot Lake RV Resort owner Mike Rysavy gained control of Hot Lake Springs in April from Lee Manuel. The RV facility is just down the road from the historic hotel.

“When the Manuels bought the property in the early 2000s the hotel was in terrible shape,” Rysavy said. “They pretty much saved the building. They spent millions to upgrade and put in all new plumbing, electricity and fire suppression systems. They did amazing structural improvements.”

The conditional use permit the Union County Planning Department issued to Rysavy covers an array of activities at the site, including a movie theater, outdoor concert space, conference space and pubs and restaurants, along with a new name for the faculty — The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs.

Rysavy closed the hotel operations April 20 to begin renovations. He said he hopes to be open to guests by the end of November.

The Manuels’ renovation project hit a peak around 2012, and the hotel had not seen much work since, Rysavy said. His plan is to build on the work of the Manuels and make aesthetic improvements.

“A lot of what we are doing is deferred maintenance,” Rysavy said. “Painting and cleaning are our focus, not construction.”

Rather than adding on, Rysavy said, the internal spaces of the hotel will be reconfigured to create additional eating and drinking establishments, which can double as conference spaces. The property’s movie theater would be open to the public, and the outdoor spaces could be designated for concert use.

The project has plenty of community support, Rysavy said, as he could make the space a destination for tourists, which brings in more money for the county. Rysavy said he also plans to develop partnerships with local breweries and farms.

David Lawton, a neighboring property owner, expressed misgivings about the construction in a letter to Union County on Feb. 24.

Lawton owns property to the west of the hotel that wraps around to the south, which includes the Hot Lake reservoir and the hillside behind the hotel, across the lake. In his letter he said he was concerned about the changes reaching beyond the property line, the environmental quality changes from additional use, protecting against property trespass and increases in noise, light and air pollution.

“Adjoining property owners are concerned with the expansion, as proposed, where outright use will outstrip the existing resources and infrastructure currently available to the property known as Hot Lake Springs Resort,” Lawton’s letter said.

Rysavy addressed Lawton’s concerns at a Planning Department hearing Feb. 24, stating the application for the permit is not requesting anything unusual and he plans to build upon the restoration work that the Manuel family started.

Rysavy estimated the project will take five years to complete. He is concerned with continuing to work on bars and eating establishments due to the rules around COVID-19.

“With COVID, we had to make a choice,” he said. “We decided to stop pushing forward with the movie theater and our first new pub, the Thermal Pub and Eatery, and instead decided to focus on getting rooms ready to open and the hot springs soaking tubs fixed.”

Rysavy said the construction will cost around $1 million. Prior to owning Grande Hot Lake RV Resort and purchasing the hotel, Rysavy worked as a general contractor. He said that has helped keep costs down. However, one of the biggest challenges of this project, compared with previous jobs he has done, is the size.

“It is a massive place,” Rysavy said. “Everything is a massive scale. Even though I knew it was massive, it took me until March to realize how big of an undertaking it truly is.”

The former Hot Lake Springs Resort is a historic property built in 1864. A fire burned down a portion of the property and the building was then used for various purposes including an asylum, retirement home and nurse’s training school during World War II. The property was left abandoned until Charles and Louise Rhea sold the property to David and Lee Manuel, who completed major renovations in the early 2000s and turned the building into a hotel, restaurant and museum.