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Want to know what’s happening in the Eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a rundown of this week’s business news in the Valley.
We BUZZ
first
A family-owned bar and restaurant in Firth is being updated for a new generation.
FIRTH – When it closes in 2020, the Collett Pub at 132 Main Street in Firth has served customers for 90 years.
Holly Johnson, who has fond memories of eating hamburgers with her family as a child, bought the 1,200-square-foot space and the old theater next door.
She and her husband Brian and friends Brett and Janice Olive and Shuris Prestwich are working on updating it and giving it a fresh, new look. They are aiming to reopen Colette’s sometime in September.
“Our original plan was to open it as is and give people all the nostalgia of how it was when they were kids,” Holley told eastidahonews.com. “The first bar over here — we’re doing a clear coat (paint) because it’s been signed and engraved (for years).”
Part of the theater is a shell of a building with some remaining seats from days gone by. He has a lot of empathy for a lot of people in the community, and Holly wants to protect that.
It remains closed to the public until she figures out what to do with it.
“We like to use it as an event center. We just want to get people’s feedback and see what they want,” Holly said.
In the next few years, the couple plans to convert the upper part of the theater into apartments.
“We’ve always loved (this building). It is actually the last old building in our city. Everything else is broken,” she says. “It’s very damaged, but the shell is well built, and we thought, ‘Let’s see if he wants to sell it.'”
The person you are talking about is Donnie Collett, grandson of the original owner. Holly bought the building in April, but before that, it had been in the Collette family for generations.
In the early 1900s it operated as a garage and for a time as a grocery store.
“We have pictures of the building from 1910,” Holly says. But we don’t know exactly what year it was made,” she said.
Grant Collett bought it in 1930 and opened Collett’s Pub. According to Holley, it was the first bar in the state to have Budweiser beer on tap.
“The first collet bar was in the back. It was not at the front where it is now,” she said. “So when they closed the grocery store, they moved the bar forward.”
The history of the theater is less clear. Holly doesn’t remember what it’s called or who owns it, but she does remember that the Crystal Maze Dance Hall was once upstairs.
Part of this Holi renovation is getting a little history in the process.
The project is expected to grow and evolve over the next several years. Holly plans to eventually do a complete renovation of the building and expand it with new facilities.
To her, the building is a monument to the city’s history, and she hopes it will live on for generations to come.
“We wanted to keep Colette’s name, and we wanted to have something in Firth again,” says Holly. “There are no eating or drinking establishments in Firth except for convenience stores and liquor stores…so we want to give people a place to grab a burger for lunch like we always did when we were kids.”
BIZ BITS
A board member of an energy company appointed for regional responsibility
ASHTON – Fall River Electric Cooperative board member Doug Schmeier has been named second vice president of the Northwest Public Power Association’s board of directors.
The appointment came at the recent NWPPA annual business meeting in Coeur d’Alene. The regional association represents more than 155 customer-owned, locally controlled utilities in the western US and Canada. NWPPA is governed by a 20-member Board of Trustees comprised of representatives from member utilities.
Schmir was previously secretary and treasurer of the NWPPA and former board president of the Fall River Electric Cooperative. He was elected to the Fall River Board in 2010 and is a resident and business owner in West Yellowstone, Montana.
There is still plenty to do in Yellowstone Park.
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana – Along with the recent flooding, a lot has changed in Yellowstone National Park in the past two weeks.
If you’re planning a vacation — or still wondering if you should come — West Yellowstone, Montana, is open and safe, and there’s still plenty for visitors to see and do.
Activities such as hiking or mountain biking on one of the many trails are available in town. Families can get up close and personal with wildlife at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center (recently named a TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice winner).
Vacationers can attend a Wild West Rodeo or go on a guided horseback ride.
Click here to learn more.
If you missed it…
Why is this new business in downtown Idaho Falls making goat milk soap?
A local couple found hidden cash and prizes just hours after the business began its treasure hunt
A grocery store offering bargain prices opens in Idaho Falls.
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