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The Fortuna City Council will continue its search for a new lessee for the Fortuna River Lodge for at least another month. After hearing three pitches from three prospective tenants at last night’s meeting, the city council agreed to extend the application process and accept proposals from both public and private sectors.

Why lease the River Lodge? A few months ago, the city looked into selling or leasing the River Lodge to offset Fortuna’s systemic budget issues. The city council wasn’t interested in selling, but said it would be willing to rent the building to a public-serving entity.

At last night’s meeting, City Manager Amy Nilsen noted that the city is seeing “ongoing pressure from declining revenues and rising costs.” Over the last five years, the city’s General Fund has contributed more than $1 million to maintain operations at the River Lodge, Nilsen said. The General Fund has contributed more than $275,000 to the venue just in the current fiscal year.

Nilsen presented two proposals to lease the building — one from the Fortuna Union High School District and an “unsolicited” proposal from aspiring event organizer Kinetic Hospitality Group Inc. “At a policy level, council has two primary options tonight,” she said, “to continue with the current direction to lease the facility to a public entity, such as Fortuna Union High School District, or expand the scope to consider private operator models and direct staff to return with a process and evaluation criteria.”

Speaking during public comment, Superintendent Clint Duey dispelled rumors that the school district would discontinue public use of the River Lodge and convert it into office space if its proposal were selected. Duey said his own office would probably be relocated to the River Lodge if the lease agreement goes through, but emphasized that the district’s “number one goal” would be to maintain the facility as a community gathering space.

Duey | Screenshot

“While it might look different than it currently does, I believe that it is an economically viable solution to what we’re trying to do here,” Duey said. “First and foremost, it would serve the needs of our district, which is my job as a superintendent, but also serve students of the Eel River Valley and nonprofit organizations alike. We are blessed in our community to receive great support from institutions like Rotary, and we [would] be cutting our nose off to spite our face to shut the doors to those people.”

However, Duey said he “would look at eliminating weddings” from the River Lodge out of concern that “a bunch of drunk people” would damage the building or potentially access confidential documents in district offices. 

“If we don’t host weddings there, they’re still going to get married, folks,” he said. “The people are still going to travel to attend the wedding, and they’re still going to stay in the hotels. It’s just a different mindset.”

Several times, Duey emphasized the “stability” of the school district, noting that he oversees a $20 million budget, 100-plus staff and numerous buildings. If the district secures the lease, he said he’d like to expand the high school’s career and technical education (CTE) courses, and potentially start a “professional development hub” for regional educators.

“Our district manages all the professional development for ag educators throughout the entire state of California, to the tune of $4 [million] to $5 million a year,” he said. “We book conferences all over the state of California and, in fact, one of the major drivers [for] the River Lodge coming up in the near months is our four-day conference that we’re holding there. I know there’s concern out there… that the [transient] occupancy tax there might be going away. Well, just in that one conference last year, we cut a check for $21,000 to a local hotel for booking all the rooms for the educators. Bringing events like that to the River Lodge is what we intend to do.”

Jeana McClendon, who sits on the school’s board of trustees, also urged the city council to approve the district’s proposal.

Thompson | Screenshot

The city council also heard from Fortuna resident Erica Thompson, who submitted a proposal on behalf of Kinetic Hospitality Group Inc. to “transition the River Lodge from a passive space-rental entity into an active, multi-tiered hospitality asset.”

Addressing the council, Thompson sarcastically referred to herself as the “elusive unsolicited proposal [applicant] who wants to make money off of everyone.” She outlined her decades of experience in hospitality, which began when she was just 14 years old, cleaning rooms in her grandmother’s motel. 

“I know what it is to serve people, I know what it is to make money, and I know what it is to be organized and take care of events and take care of buildings,” she said in a seemingly defensive tone. “While I can’t quite compete with some of the heavy hitters that are here tonight … I do think that there is a lot to be said for the differences between people who receive their paycheck regardless of how successful an endeavor is, and people who have to work hard and turn a profit before they ever see a dime in their own pocket. I know that firsthand because that has been what I have done for the last 20 years.”

In addition to events, Thompson expressed interested in using the River Lodge as an emergency command center in the event of a countywide disaster. “We would be available to the citizens of Fortuna when they would need us the most, absolutely free of charge,” she said.

Felicia Thomsson, president and CEO of the Fortuna Chamber of Commerce, also expressed interest in the River Lodge, and urged the city council to consider additional proposals before selecting a lessee. If selected, the chamber would relocate its offices to the River Lodge and expand its offerings to include a welcome center.

Thomsson | Screenshot

“We have extensive knowledge of the River Lodge’s annual bookings and have excellent relationships with all the local catering companies, hotels and event coordinators,” she said. “We feel that this could be an excellent partnership for preserving what the River Lodge has built and continue with the namesake while introducing new events that increase tourism and TOT.”

Councilmember and Mayor Pro-Tem Tami Trent said she was surprised at how many people were interested in the River Lodge, and spoke in favor of extending the application process. The rest of the council agreed.

“I believe that we really should open this up and give everybody a fair chance to put their program together … and then make our final decision,” Trent said. I think that’s the fair way to do it.”

Councilmember Kyle Conley echoed her comments, adding that the school district would provide the city with a “for now solution” for the River Lodge. However, he said he wasn’t sure if the district’s proposal would be the best option for the entire community.

“Hopefully, Fortuna can reacquire that building at some point and take over operations again someday down the line,” Conley said. “I fear that if we don’t have a community event-type venue that continues the model that’s currently in there … people will stop thinking of [the River Lodge] as an option, and then we’ll never fill it back up again.”

Mayor Mike Johnson and Councilmember Carlos Diaz agreed.

Nilsen said staff would work with the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC) to develop an “evaluation criteria” for the proposals.

She suggested that the city council give applicants two to three weeks to submit their proposals, plus some extra time for RREDC to vet them. However, she didn’t want to push the date out too far, given that the city is hoping to begin the new lease on Jan. 1, 2027.

The council ultimately directed staff to come back with an update at its July 20 meeting. The motion passed in a 4-0 vote, with Councilmember Abe Stevens absent.