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Ranch House hopes to reopen on schedule

Fire is 'a little bit of a setback'; owners to sue Natural Resources

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published November 18, 2008

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The Ranch House BBQ restaurant still intends to reopen on schedule after a fire destroyed the roof on its new building Sunday, co-owner and general manager Melanie Tapia said.

Meanwhile, the managers intend to sue the state Department of Natural Resources, alleging that improper forest practices led to the mudslide that destroyed the restaurant at its original location west of Olympia last December.

The contractor rebuilding the restaurant, Bowers Construction, has committed to work "double time" to replace the roof and remove the smoke damage so the restaurant can reopen in late December or early January, Tapia said.

"It's going to be a little bit of a setback," Tapia said, "but everybody's going to work that much harder."

Roofing materials apparently caught fire hours after workers completed the roof, she said. The fire was reported shortly before 11:30 a.m. and firefighters brought it under control 90 minutes later.

Last year, a massive mudslide destroyed the original restaurant off of state Route 8 on the day that severe flooding inundated southern Thurston County and western Lewis County, causing millions of dollars of damage and shutting down Interstate 5 for several days.

The restaurant reopened in the Governor Hotel in downtown Olympia in January. It will close there Nov. 30 so the managers can focus attention on the reopening at the original location.

Business has been down at the downtown location, Tapia said. She attributed the slowdown to the weak economy and customers who missed the rural character of the original location.

Tapia said there was never any doubt the restaurant would reopen in its original location.

"We own the property," Tapia said. "It's home. It just fits so much better for a ranch barbecue than a downtown location."

The owners secured a $914,000 loan from the Small Business Administration to rebuild the restaurant.

They filed a tort claim with the state Department of Natural Resources in July. It claimed the mudslide started on state forestlands directly above their property where "unreasonable thinning of trees has created an unreasonable risk of landslide," according to a copy of the document obtained by The Olympian.

The slide scoured the area of soil and picked up timber and other debris before destroying the restaurant and temporarily closing a portion of Route 8.

The state agency has 60 days to resolve the claim before the Ranch House owners can file suit. Tapia said a lawsuit would be filed no later than Dec. 3, on the one-year anniversary of the loss of the restaurant.

An agency spokeswoman said the claim has no merit and the agency does not intend to pay it.

The claim seeks at least $1.85 million in damages. Also lost in the mudslide were the water and septic systems, a cabin, a shop and three other outbuildings, Tapia said.

Christian Hill covers Lacey and Thurston County for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5427 or at chill@theolympian.com.