The Future of Enders Unclear

The Enders Hotel, built in 1917 and located on Main Street in Soda Springs, has been a prominent building in the history of Soda Springs. It is listed on the Idaho Historical Registry and houses a museum full of local historic artifacts. Since being gifted to the City of Soda Springs by Rex Maughn in December of 2018, it has been occupied by two different tenants and vacant for lengthy periods of time. With the initial costs of receiving the “gift” and ongoing maintenance, repairs, and utilities expenses, the total costs to the city has surpassed $500,000. Many in the community have expressed their concern about the cost and burden to the city and have urged the city to sell the building. Others have concerns about preserving and protecting the historical building for future generations. 

For the last two years Enders has been leased and operated by Terah Jones of TJ Designs. Terah has brought the building back to life and re-established its place in the community. Room occupancy has steadily grown, and, because of Terah’s talents and creativity, Enders has become a popular location for weddings, receptions, reunions, meetings, community classes, dances and numerous other events. The café has become a popular place for community members to come to work quietly, read, study, or meet with friends. More than a dozen local crafters sell their products in the gift shop. It is the store-front for the popular Baked Fresh – Sourdough Bakery and a local office for The Enterprise Caribou County Edition newspaper. It is also the location where the newly formed Chamber of Commerce holds meetings and workshops and where the Women’s Networking Group meets monthly. With the support of Department of Labor, Terah developed a certificate program for high school graduates to earn a Certificate in Marketing or Hospitality Management. Plans to add a Maintenance Certificate Program were in the works as well. The building has truly shined and become a destination for the community, tourists and businesses alike because of the hospitality and talents of Terah and
her employees.

With the 2-year lease coming to an end on December 31st and no secured renewal of the lease with the city, it became increasingly difficult to operate the hospitality business which requires confirmed reservations and event planning months in advance. The business also experienced a substantial drop in room occupancy due to the Main Street construction project and cutbacks at Bayer. Terah made the difficult decision to terminate the lease and close the doors as of the end of October. A liquidation sale, which included items she personally contributed or purchased throughout the course of the lease, took place last week. She donated any remaining items to the Soda Springs Community Senior Center. Many in the community stopped by to make purchases and say goodbye to Terah and her team. 

The closing of Enders leaves a huge void in the community. It was the only convention and meeting facility in Soda Springs that could accommodate gatherings of up to 100 people. It also provided catering and event planning services. Enders employed as many as 15 employees during the busy summer months. Most of the employees returned to college in August or have found other jobs, some relocating out of the area. Enders Employee, Caleb Messerly, said he has submitted applications to several local businesses, but is still searching for a job. Business owner Afton Marowelli was left searching for a new location to sell her baked goods for her small home-based business, Baked Fresh – Sourdough Bakery. She has secured a new location at the Flower Box, owned by Camille Monk, and also located on Main Street. Local organizations and businesses are scrambling to find a place to hold their meetings and workshops. 

Terah Jones said she is worried about the future of Soda Springs, which relies heavily on the mining industry and offers no educational opportunities beyond high school for those who can’t afford or don’t want to attend traditional college. She said the community needs to focus on developing entrepreneurial opportunities that tap into the tourism industry using our existing recreational landscapes, such as ATV, boat and kayak rentals, fishing and hunting guide services, hiking and horseback riding, river floating trips and cross-country skiing. She expressed the need for skill-developing opportunities for new businesses and additional lodging and restaurant options for tourists. As for her own future, she said she is going to consider all her options and do what is best for herself, even if that means selling her house and relocating out of the area. 

The City Council was expected to discuss and make a decision about the future of Enders later this month, however, with the termination of the lease, the urgency to make a decision no longer exists. One possibility is to relocate City Hall to Enders. The city had a feasibility study completed a few years ago to determine if relocating City Hall to Enders was a possibility and how much it would cost. The City’s 2024 Budget Year ended on October 31st and the new 2025 budget year began on November 1st. The city council has budgeted $900,000 in the 2025 Budget for estimated costs associated with construction and remodeling that would be necessary if they were to decide relocate City Hall to the Enders building. A major part of the expense would include an elevator to make the building ADA compliant and upgrades to bring the building up to current fire code requirements. A remodel of the gift shop and the bathrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors are also included in the plan. The city would likely sell the current city hall property to recuperate some of that expense. In addition, the Enders building needs re-roofing, foundation and masonry repairs, major electrical repairs, heating and cooling repairs, and replacement of the floor in the kitchen. The city could still lease the café, ballroom and the 3rd floor hotel rooms and continue to keep the museum on the 2nd floor open to the public if City Hall were to be relocated to Enders.

 City Council could decide to sell Enders. Idaho municipalities are governed by Idaho Code, and that includes the City of Soda Springs. Sale of a city owned assets, such as Enders, can only be sold by public auction in accordance with Idaho Code. The sale could contain limitations or restrictions on future use of the building to preserve its historic nature. Sale of Enders would eliminate the financial burden on the City and thus the citizens of Soda Springs. However, finding a buyer may be a bit more complicated, and unlikely, with Idaho Code also requiring the building to be auctioned starting at market value, which is estimated to be somewhere between $800,000 and $1.25 million. Similarly, Hooper School has been put up for public auction several times by the Soda Springs School District without any bidders coming forward.  

The city could also decide to continue to lease Enders. If another party were to come forward with a Business Plan and the desire to lease the building, the City Council could discuss and consider the option. Although occupied at times, Enders has not produced a steady stream of income since being gifted to the city. The current lease payments of TJ Designs were structured to cover all the monthly utility cost, plus 30%, but that didn’t come close to covering the costs of repairs over the years. Some would say some income is better than none. Vacant, the city will again be burdened with the monthly expenses and continued deterioration of the building.

This past August, an independent survey was conducted to gather the community’s input about the future of Enders. The results showed that 49.1% of those who took the survey wanted the building to be sold, 35.5% wanted the city to continue to lease the building to Terah Jones, 11.2% wanted the building to be retained by the city and converted to City Hall, and 4.2% had no preference. The survey results were presented to the City Council in hopes that they would consider the results when deciding the future of Enders. With Enders now vacant and money budgeted in the 2025 Budget, it seems plausible that City Council will decide to relocate City Hall to the building, but we’ll have to wait and see what their final decision is. 

City residents are encouraged to reach out to City Councilmen and or attend City Council Meetings to express their concerns about the future of Enders (and any other topics). City Councilman Paul Gritton has been behind an effort to increase transparency and attendance at City Council Meetings. He has introduced a motion to permanently change City Council Meetings from 5pm to 6pm, to make the meetings more convenient for city residents to attend. He also has been the driving force behind council meetings being available to watch both live and recorded online (a link can be found on the city website). City Councilman Mitch Hart believes Enders is a valuable asset to the city and is an advocate of preserving Enders. He introduced the idea of relocating City Hall to Enders and used the feasibility study to estimate the costs necessary to make a possible relocation happen. City Councilman Rod Worthington has expressed his concern about the extensive cost and burden Enders has been to the city and its residents and has vowed to look out for the best interests of the city and the community. He and Councilman Ryan Carpenter were the driving force behind having an independent survey performed to gain community input about the future of Enders. 

The decision about the future of Enders is a difficult one for the City Council to make and surely will result in residents being upset with their decision, no matter what decision is made. One thing is for sure, the loss of Terah Jones operating the Enders Hotel is a huge loss to the Soda Springs community and she will be greatly missed by many. Terah, good luck on your next adventure!