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Clark Fork Valley Press & Mineral IndependentSpring Creek closes its doorsPosted: Friday, Jan 16, 2009 - 12:45:01 pm MSTJamie Doran
Valley PressSpring Creek Lodge closed its doors for the last time Friday Jan. 9, leaving everyone who had been employed there unemployed and the students at the lodge without a place to go.
Representatives for Spring Creek Lodge could not be reached for comment by the Valley Press before press time.
The lodge first opened its doors about 30 years ago by Nancy and Steve Cawdrey. The lodge was opened as a place to address drug, alcohol and behavioral issues of young people from across the county.
The lodge once had over 500 students enrolled, but during the past several years enrollment dropped down to less than 50.
Thompson Falls Superintendent Jerry Pauli said that while he had no ties to the lodge, the Thompson Falls school system had been impacted by it.
"As their enrollment numbers went down, people who worked there were unemployed, which caused kids to leave our schools because their parents needed to relocate," he said.
At one point Spring Creek Lodge was the largest employer in Sanders County as it employed about 200 individuals in various positions throughout the lodge.
Pauli said that the Thompson Falls School Board will be holding a special meeting Tuesday Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. to discuss the expansion of their own Alternative Learning Center at Thompson Falls High School.
He said the Alternative Learning Center has been around for years and has had anywhere from 30-43 kids involved either part or full-time in the program.
"What we're doing is looking to expand that program to pick up some of the kids who were in Spring Creek," he said.
Pauli said there will likely be some students from Spring Creek that will be picked up by families in the Thompson Falls area and expanding the Alternative Learning Center would be a great way to help accommodate those students.
"At the meeting we'll be addressing and hopefully making a decision on whether or not we should expand our services and this program to include these students," he said.
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