Hot springs in Boulder seeks return to former glory

BOULDER — When Anne Wilson Schaef toured Boulder Hot Springs as a potential buyer in the late 1980s, she was told the old hotel was in such disrepair that it wouldn’t be a wise investment.

Twenty-six years later she’s still there.

At the July 7 meeting of the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee, Schaef asked members to come out and visit, saying its main lobby was now reopened after being closed for what she said was decades.

And she also mentioned a restored barroom, even though alcohol is not served on the premises.

“We were told ‘You girls don’t want this,’” she remembers being advised when she was thinking about buying the property. “You should let us bulldoze this.”

She said she disagreed.

“No, this belongs to all of Montana.”

Schaef is among 11 investors who own the California mission-style hotel outside of Boulder known for its healing hot springs that comes complete with its own ghost. She estimates more than $1 million has been poured back into repairs. She believes the sale price in 1989 was $137,000.

“The concept of owning it sounds strange,” Schaef said. “If anything it owns us. We just have the honor of taking care of it.”

She calls the facility the Peace Valley Hot Springs, borrowing the “Peace Valley” from a name the Indians are said to have given the area. But to many it’s Boulder Hot Springs. It’s also known as the Boulder Hot Springs Inn, Spa and Retreat Center.

She said visitors frequently attest how the waters, which are also used to heat the rooms, help.

“People say ‘I wouldn’t be walking if not for this place,’” she said.

There are no televisions in the rooms, no alcohol is served on the premises and smoking is not allowed.

“Most of the guests who come here are so glad we do not have TV,” Schaef said.

She later adds that Indians saw the area as a place of healing.

“We consider this a spiritual place where all people are welcome,” Schaef said. “We do not want to be a party place.”

“We are the caretakers.”

A large wooden carving of an eagle greets visitors as they enter the lobby. Sculptures by Frederic Remington dot the room and oriental rugs cover the original maple floors. A display case with Indian artifacts fills a portion of the room while an antique cash register sits on the counter.

The barroom, which is to the side of the main lobby, now has a table of card-playing cowboy mannequins sitting to the side, complete with a saloon girl floozy and the main barroom has overstuffed furniture, an arched doorway, main bar and a calliope tucked into the corner.

“The building has had some abuse, but we are trying to restore it to its former grandeur,” Schaef said.

She adds that sandwiches and fresh juices will be served not only to guests, but to the general public.

“Hopefully, it will be a hangout place for the people in Boulder,” she said.

In its history it has reportedly served as a hotel, saloon, dude ranch and working ranch.

The landmark hotel, visible from Highway 69 and a few miles away from Interstate 15, had its origins in 1863, when James E. Riley claimed the property known for its healing powers.

In 1881, he enlarged the hotel at the hot springs. He died later that year.

In the 1960s, it was known as the Diamond S Ranchotel and known for its Saturday night smorgasbords. The special night brought in as many as 500 people, with lines stretching out into the lobby.

And it has been visited by presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Harding and Franklin Roosevelt, its caretakers said.

Schaef, a psychologist and New York Times best-selling author, said she went to school in Boulder, but left during her freshman year.

“I consider this my community,” she said.

She said there is a lot to love about the nearly 300-acre property.

“I love the waters. I love the peace that is here, the beautiful views, the Canadian honkers, the sandhill cranes and the eagles that come here to have their babies,” she said. “Everywhere you look is beautiful. I want it to be beautiful here.”

Manager Kerri Kumasaka, who has been at the hotel since 1995 when she moved to Boulder from Seattle looking for a change in her life, also loves the wildlife that surrounds the property.

Kumasaka notes that a “birder” said there were more than 30 species of birds surrounding the hotel.

And then Schaef mentions the ghost.

Schaef said she heard rumors about a spirit that haunted the hotel and remembers one of her first times in the building that she said she was going to go into one of the rooms, even though other workers refused.

“I said ‘I am going up there,’” she recalled. “It got spooky. The room got cold as ice.’”

She entered the room and, to no one in particular, she said “I know you’re here. We’re not going to hurt this place. We’re going to take care of this place.”

And then the name of the spirit came to her: Simone.

And she decided to make her a cup of tea.

It’s a task she continues to this day. When she fixes something for herself, she always makes a little something for Simone. And she encourages others to do the same.

She believes Simone was a prostitute killed onsite by a Butte mining executive.

One of the hotel rooms is named in her honor.

And there are theme rooms such as the Peace Valley Room, the Diamond S Suite, the Northern Pacific Suite and the Elkhorn Room.

The owners have tapped into the hot springs to heat the hotel. Schaef said the system set up to do that was cutting edge for its time and has been copied. She said there are no heating costs other than pumping the water through the system.

The springs has visitors to help renovate the building and grounds.

Annika Hirmke, 19, of Tuebingen, Germany, said she has spent some of her summers there.

“I love it,” she said, adding she loves how peaceful and comfortable it is. “I basically grew up here.”

Work is going on upstairs to return the hotel to its former self, Schaef said.

Ellen Rae Thiel of the town’s Heritage Center which displays and chronicles the town’s history, said the hot springs means a lot to Boulder and most people who grew up here.

Many of the locals remember when it featured a big smorgasbord Saturday nights and had a bar that served liquor. Some remember going out Sunday afternoons to swim.

Members of the facility have remained active in the community and have donated rooms where authors who visit the library can stay.

Boulder resident Sabrina Sketekee said she lived at the springs from 1965-1973 when her parents were part of a group that owned it.

“I have the best memories of the world,” she said. “It was a vibrant and busy place at that time.”

She was happy to see Schaef and her group saving the building.

“I was glad to see they are doing the work they are doing,” she said.

Sarah Layng, president of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, said the springs is a chamber member and was at the meeting when Schaef invited members out to see the changes.

“I haven’t been out for a while,” she said. “I think it’s exciting I will have to go out and check it out.”

More online

For more information, go to: http://www.boulderhotsprings.com