Multnomah Falls Lodge, closed since shortly after the Eagle Creek fire began, could open before the end of the year, according to the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the lodge.

The inside and outside of the lodge is being cleaned, said Rachel Pawlitz, spokeswoman for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, which is part of the Forest Service. The lodge is being prepared for the reopening in cooperation with the lodge concessionaire, Multnomah Falls Co. Inc.

Also, the Forest Service and the concessionaire want to "clear loose rocks that could fall at any moment" near the lodge, Pawlitz said, adding there was no target date for reopening the lodge, which was built in 1925.

The potential lodge reopening was first reported by KGW.

The Forest Service expects to have spent about $500,000 on making the area around the lodge safe before its reopening, Pawlitz said. This expense will include clearing debris from a retention fence near the lodge, removing that fence and constructing another fence, she said.

The concessionaire has insurance for repairs needed to the lodge itself, Pawlitz said, though she did not know the dollar amount. A concessionaire official could not be reached Friday morning.

The lodge was built by the city of Portland "to capitalize on the booming tourist trade through the Columbia River Gorge which was opened to automobile travel July 6, 1915," according to the 1981 application for its (successful) inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The Tudor-style lodge, 33 miles east of Portland, was designed by the prolific Portland architect A.E. Doyle; it was built by Waale-Shattuck Co. for $40,000 – the equivalent today of approximately $560,000.

Meanwhile, an untrained fire observer would be hard-pressed on Friday to see anything except fog and rain in the 48,831 acres that encompass the Eagle Creek fire.

Nonetheless, the fire officially is not out.

"It could still be smoldering in some places," Pawlitz said, making fire control managers reluctant to declare the fire completely extinguished. She said to expect the fire to be described as 50 percent contained until next spring.

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman