Aug. 27–The historic Red Lion Hotel at the Quay will close on Halloween as the Port of Vancouver moves forward on a massive redevelopment of the city’s waterfront. The closure eliminates 82 jobs at the 160-room hotel and restaurant.

The Columbian newspaper first reported the closure Thursday.

“The restaurant has been open since 1960 and the hotel since 1962,” said Pam Scott, a spokeswoman for Red Lion Hotels Corp. in Spokane. She said Red Lion hopes to reopen after the port, which owns the property, redevelops the site. But that could be years away.

Vancouver’s waterfront overhaul is already more than a decade in the making. The city and port hope to capitalize on the proximity to the Columbia River to remake 32 acres of aging industrial property in the style of Portland’s South Waterfront or Pearl District.

It’s been slow going as economic setbacks and land issues have repeatedly delayed efforts, which have a total price tag estimated at $1.5 billion. Current plans call for 10 acres of parks, more than 1 million square feet of office space plus 3,000 apartments and condominiums.

Red Lion has nearby franchise locations across the river at Jantzen Beach and at Portland International Airport, and a location in Kelso. Scott said the company has been in touch with the owners of those sites about finding work for employees who will lose their jobs in Vancouver. The port plans a job fair, too, she said.

The Quay was not Red Lion’s first hotel, but Scott said the company considers it Red Lion’s “Legacy” location because it was acquired in 1973 by the chain’s founders, Ed Pietz and Tod McClaskey of Vancouver.

Red Lion’s lease with the port runs through the end of the year, according to Scott, but she said the company opted to wind down its operation in October rather than wait for winter.

— Mike Rogoway