Construction projects adding new life to downtown Sandpoint

SANDPOINT — The Dive’s bar is eight inches thick, as long as dugout and made from one slab of wood.

Or, as Junior Solis says, it is one solid tree.

The hand-crafted bar is one of the amenities at downtown Sandpoint’s newest eatery and entertainment spot, slated to open May 15.

Solis, who operates the adjoining Oishii’s, The Spar, a martini bar above Oishii’s, in addition to The Dive, is shooting for a May 15 opening for his newest endeavor.

If the business lights up on time, it will coincide with the first anniversary of Oishii’s.

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Solis said.

The new construction is one of two projects on the 200 block of North First Avenue, Sandpoint’s main thoroughfare.

At the east end of the block, in a building leased by Sandpoint Realty, Rob Behrens hired a local contractor, architect and interior designer to spruce up the building he owns with wife Tonia.

He and Solis hope the new looks will help bring more business to downtown Sandpoint.

Although Behrens, a developer who works for an orthopedic implant company, and Solis, a chef by trade, are on different sides of the block, their vision is the same.

Both men hired local workers for projects that are intended to make downtown Sandpoint more attractive to both tourists and the local customer base.

“Any business downtown is a good business,” Behrens said.

Neither Behrens nor Solis will reveal how much their projects cost, but city building permits — a conservative measure of work costs — put the value at $60,000.

 The Sandpoint Realty office’s facelift includes a steel awning, new windows, subway tiles, a refurbished entrance and crown molding along the roofline.

“It needed it,” Behrens said.

Before its latest tenant, the building had housed a variety of businesses including a pharmacy, a donut shop, a bootery and a women’s clothing store, called the Crystal Butterfly, owned by Behrens’ in-laws.

Solis’ business in what is known as the Pastime building, for years housed a local café and sporting goods store under The Pastime banner.

In an effort to make good on the home-town history, Solis’ latest project incorporates the historical architecture.

For more than a month, local workers have chipped, ripped and otherwise exposed the building’s old beams, posts and woodwork.

“It was covered with 100 years of stuff,” Solis said.

The new eatery, with its free digital games, as well as board games, barrels of peanuts with shells patrons can toss on the floor, and affordable menu will target families, Solis said.

“It is not a bar, it is a family entertainment venue,” he said.

In its effort to launch The Dive — so named for its rustic, almost barnlike atmosphere — owners and investors of Oishii’s needed City Council approval to expand its liquor license because The Grace Fellowship Church leased a space across the street.

Idaho Code requires a blessing from local government if an establishment serves liquor within 300 feet of a church.

The license was issued.

Sandpoint City Council member Stephen Snedden said the approval was granted in part because council members agreed that liquor licenses should be retained downtown.

The church, in a letter to the city, took no position on the matter.

Snedden thinks the downtown improvements are a positive step in a downturned economy.

“I am encouraged that this will bring people to our downtown,” he said.