The historic Skyliners Lodge west of Bend could become home to an environmental education center for local students, if the U.S. Forest Service signs off on a proposal by the High Desert Education Service District.

Sue Olson, spokeswoman for the Deschutes National Forest, said the High Desert ESD is the only organization to submit a proposal to lease the lodge. If both parties can agree to terms, she said a final decision could be made within two weeks.

Owned by the Forest Service, the lodge on the bank of Tumalo Creek has been leased to the Cascade Science School, a program of the Portland-based Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, for the past 16 years.

Last spring, OMSI announced that 2009 would be the school’s last year in the lodge, as the facility is too small to accommodate its programs.

Superintendent Dennis Dempsey said the High Desert ESD, which provides services to school districts in Deschutes and Crook counties, has been interested in leasing the lodge for nearly a year, he said.

Dempsey said superintendents of the local school districts gave the ESD the go-ahead to pursue a lease arrangement with the Forest Service, with the understanding that the districts could determine how to best share the use of the lodge later on.

“It’s got great potential, and we could see it as a regional site for conservation education, natural resources, or watershed stuff because of all the resources out there,” he said.

Part of local history

Built in 1935 by crews working with the Works Progress Administration, Skyliners Lodge took its name from the Skyliners Club, a ski club that moved into the lodge upon its completion and ran a small ski area.

The club built trails in the area and operated a rope tow until 1957, when a fire destroyed much of the ski area’s equipment. The Bachelor Butte ski area — now Mt. Bachelor — opened in 1958, and the Skyliners ski area never reopened.

The lodge has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978, which bars the tenants from making substantial renovations. The age of the building and its status on the National Register requires considerable maintenance in keeping with its historical character, Olson said, an expense of roughly $7,000 per year.

Olson said the Forest Service does not want to see the building vacant, as happened at various times between the end of the Skyliners ski area and the arrival of OMSI. She said a full-time tenant provides a level of security for the lodge that the Forest Service cannot provide on its own.

“That’s the optimum situation for us, to have a permittee operating at the building taking good care of it,” she said. “Because it is in a rather vulnerable location, being out in the woods it is susceptible to vandalism or party activity or that sort of thing.”

Olson said the Forest Service is looking for the next tenant to commit to at least 10 years at Skyliners Lodge. Although the application process is currently closed, she said it could be reopened if the Forest Service and the ESD are unable to come to agreement.

A ‘gorgeous outdoor classroom’

Kolleen Yake, who runs education programs for local students through the Healthy Waters Institute and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, said Skyliners Lodge and Tumalo Creek make a “gorgeous outdoor classroom.”

The lodge’s proximity to Bend schools — about nine miles from Summit High School and William E. Miller Elementary — makes it particularly attractive to Bend students, Yake said, providing a “home watershed” that they can take ownership in.

Redmond High School teacher Rebecca Barrett said the lodge could provide a space to store equipment for courses like her wildlife biology class, allowing for more time working in the field. While the lodge is a bit small to host multiple classes at one time, she said anything that makes it easier for local teachers to get their students out of the classroom is a good thing.

“It’s so important to do learning that includes and applies what you’re teaching in the classroom, and makes a difference in the community,” Barrett said. “If we can do something to improve the environment in the community where they live, they shouldn’t have to wait to do that, they should be doing that now.”

Dempsey said the ESD hasn’t yet committed to leasing the lodge but is likely to go ahead if the negotiations go well.

“In this environment every dollar is scrutinized, and we don’t want to do it if it doesn’t make sense financially and educationally,” he said.

Olson said OMSI has until June 31 to remove its yurts and other equipment and that a new tenant could move in to the lodge in early July.