Beloved Kah-Nee-Ta resort to reopen in 2023

Posted April 27, 2022

By Tristan Hansen

Staff Editor

Warm Springs’ Kah-Nee-Ta Resort is poised to partially reopen sometime next year after nearly four years of closure.

The Kah-Nee-Ta resort has long been a popular vacation destination, renowned for its natural mineral water hot springs and widely beloved by Oregonians. Located in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation about two hours Southeast of Portland, it began construction in 1962 with funds the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs received as compensation for the erection of the Dalles Dam and subsequent loss of ancestral fishing site Celilo Falls. Kah-Nee-Ta initially existed as a day-use village complete with an olympic-size swimming pool and hot springs, but would expand over the years to include a 149-room lodge, RV sites, teepees, and a full-size golf course, among other amenities. At one point Kah-Nee-Ta was also home to a Casino, although it has since been relocated and now resides along U.S. Route 26 as Indian Head Casino.

On July 6, 2018, Kah-Nee-Ta announced plans to close the resort, citing the resort’s inability to operate at a self-sustaining level and claiming that the decision was necessary to protect the tribe from further financial harm. While the Warm Springs Tribal Council attributed these financial difficulties to the resort’s aging structures, rumors have long swirled alleging severe financial mismanagement at the hands of the tribal government. At one point, the tribal government’s financial woes were so great that it requested a federal inspector general investigate the potential mismanagement of over $100 million over the last 10 years. In any case, the closure resulted in the loss of 146 jobs in a community that, like many other Indian Reservations, suffers from staggeringly high unemployment rates

Various proposals were made regarding the future of Kah-Nee-Ta following its closure in 2018, the most compelling and promising of which would have involved the resort being converted into a hydrotherapy center. However, the proposal came at an inopportune time - November 2019 - and the pandemic placed a damper on the plans before they could be seriously considered.

On Feb. 28, 2022, it was announced that Kah-Nee-Ta was scheduled to reopen sometime in 2023. Presently, only the village, comprising the hot springs, RV sites, teepees, and a 30 room motel are scheduled to reopen, although Jim Souers, chief executive officer of the Warm Springs Economic Development Corporation, has stated the tribe has a multi-stage plan to reopen the entire resort. The reopening will be funded by $6.08 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, with $1.5 million being specifically reserved for repairs to the wastewater system that services the resort and local community. The tribe estimates that the reopening will generate roughly 50 full time and 80 part time jobs during the busy season from March-September and 15 and 20 full time and part time jobs the rest of the year. Notably, the plans involve the facilities being managed and developed by Mt. Hood Skibowl while the village remains in tribal ownership.

“We are excited to be part of the relaunch of the Kah-Nee-Ta Village to promote the cultural heritage and bring visitors back to experience the natural healing powers of the Hot Springs, which dates back 10,000 years ago,” stated Kirk Hanna, owner and president of Mt. Hood Skibowl.

Many in the tribe are optimistic about the scheduled reopening, including Tribal Elder and former employee Charles Jackson.

“In the early 1960s, our visionary Tribal leaders saw the opportunity to develop a unique tourist attraction and put the Warm Springs Reservation on the map as a major destination," Jackson stated. "My first real wage earning jobs as a youth were maintenance kid and lifeguard at Kah-Nee-Ta. Credit goes to the current Tribal Council and other members of the local community for their support and decision to restore this Oregon landmark, create local jobs for our Tribal youth, and begin to rebuild the reservation's economy devastated by the COVID pandemic."

The reopening of one of the Warm Spring Reservation’s flagship businesses may well prove to be a crucial component of the reservation’s post pandemic recovery. While much of Eastern Oregon was hit hard by Covid-19, the reservation was uniquely devastated. 2.8 percent of the Reservation’s residents tested positive in July - a rate higher than that of any of Oregon’s counties - while many suffered and continue to suffer from the reservation’s ongoing water crisis.