Glen Echo rises from ashes

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

On Mother's Day, Glen Echo Resort opened its new restaurant, patio and lounge, making the day particularly celebratory because the resort's old store and restaurant were leveled by an April 13, 2003, fire.

Owner-operators Gail and Lloyd Rowe are both happy with the new facility, but wouldn't have chosen to rebuild only two and a half years into their first business venture.

"The new building is about the same square footage as the old store and restaurant, but because of the log construction, it looks a lot larger," Gail Rowe said. The new restaurant can accommodate 75, and that doesn't include a separate lounge bar, she said.

She noted that the new kitchen is amazing, with so much space and stainless steel. Of course everything is up to code now, and that feels a lot safer than the 1920s style building that was there, she said.

Linda and Bill Leigh, owners of the Rustic Resort just east of Glen Echo, said it's wonderful to have another restaurant open. Linda Leigh said there used to be four full-service dining rooms in the canyon, but until Glen Echo opened in May, theirs had been the only one still open.

"We've always considered the resorts at Rustic to be complementary rather than competitive," Bill Leigh said.

Clyde Greenwood, a water engineer with the city of Fort Collins, said the restaurant is a good addition on his route. He said he has to be in the canyon a lot and he appreciates having the variety.

Lloyd Rowe said they lost a lot of revenue when the restaurant burned, but it's slowly coming back. "Our next and final project is to expand in back of the building for a gift shop," he said.