Construction on a new McMenamins hotel and brewpub on Port of Kalama property is expected to begin within the next two months.
This week, port commissioners approved a final lease agreement with the Portland-headquartered company, paving the way for the project to move forward.
The new McMenamins will include a 40-room hotel, meeting rooms, gift shop, restaurant, brewery and rooftop brewpub with river view as well as a smaller 500-square-foot pub a short walk away at the Port of Kalama’s Ahles Point.
“Not only can Kalama look forward to this terrific dining and recreational option here, but this is truly an incredible investment and community asset that will bring significant economic benefits to the city of Kalama by way of sales taxes and jobs,” said Mark Wilson, executive director of the port, in a press release. “We expect this development to draw even more visitors and potential business interests to the area.”
McMenamins, which operates 54 distinctive pubs, restaurants and historic hotels in the Pacific Northwest, plans to incorporate Kalama’s Hawaiian heritage into the design of its buildings by modeling them after the historic Pioneer Inn in Lahaina, Maui.
The city and Kalama River are both named after John Kalama, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company who was originally from Kula, Maui.
