The Dillon Town Council reviewed concepts for a waterfront restaurant at a work session Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Last summer, Dillon hired the Montana-based architectural consultant Cushing Terrell for $65,000 to help develop three conceptual drawings of the restaurant proposed adjacent to the Dillon Marina.

Cushing Terrell representative Megan Cranston said Tuesday that the consulting group held a workshop in January to receive community input on the three restaurant concepts. The workshop had 23 participants, Cranston said.

Of the three conceptual designs — a two-story “mountain house,” a single-story “hillside” structure and a two-story “lake house” — the mountain house and the lake house received the most positive feedback, she said.

“Really what folks wanted to see was a building that maximizes that view. It really creates a nice place for people to spend time and gather,” Cranston said. “So that is what we heard pretty resoundingly, that those two, the mountain house concept and the lake house concept really rose to the top.”

The restaurant is proposed to include year-round indoor seating for between 80 to 120 people, a bar area, an outdoor deck for 40 to 60 people in the summer months, public outdoor space adjacent to the restaurant and public restrooms, according to Cushing Terrell. The location where the restaurant is contemplated is sometimes known as the old Crow’s Nest, after the snack bar and picnic site that was demolished there in 2012.

Mayor Caroyln Skowyra noted that the concept for a restaurant at that site began amid talks about relocating the popular Arapahoe Cafe, which is now defunct. Skowyra said she preferred the lake house concept because it appeared more modest in size and design than the mountain house concept.

Council member John Woods said “this is the best location in Colorado to build a bar.” Woods said he likes all the designs and no matter what restaurant design is chosen, “it is going to be a homerun just because it is there.”

Dillon Town Engineer Dan Burroughs said that it is contemplated that the restaurant would make up for the eventual loss of the existing tiki bar that Pug Ryan’s Brewery operates at the marina, though the restaurant would be in a different location. Burroughs said that the tiki bar is “kind of a shack” that shares its storage area with the marina and has the bare minimum in terms of facilities.

Dillon Marina Director Craig Simson said that the “tiki bar has got to go” but that it is a “huge, huge, huge part of the center of gravity” at the marina. Simson said that he would eventually like to see the tiki bar replaced with another bar, in addition to the restaurant, that would be closer to the marina. But that second bar would have to wait until Dillon redoes the seawall at the marina, he said.

Burroughs noted that with the two-story concepts it could be possible to do a full-service restaurant on the top story with a grab-and-go option on the lower level. 

The council members appeared to be in agreement that the restaurant should have bathrooms that are accessible to the public — not just restaurant guests — on both the top and bottom levels to provide facilities for people using the bike path or the marina. 

By creating a walkway down to the first level, the council members said that the restaurant could help connect the marina beach in terms of walkability. The council members also said the restaurant structure could help the town have an indoor space for events hosted on the reservoir in the winter months.

Council member Dana Christiansen said that he would like to see garage-style plexiglass doors included in the restaurant so that the outdoors could be enjoyed during the warm summer months but would still be accessible in the colder winter months or if a storm rolled in.

Cranston said that one of the biggest concerns that the public shared at the workshop was related to parking for the restaurant, especially whether parking would be available during amphitheater shows.

Burroughs said that the next steps are for Cushing Terrell to further refine the restaurant design based on feedback from the council and community. Then, a second community engagement event will be held to solicit further feedback on that refined design, he said.

The restaurant is still in the “concept phase” and that the town would likely seek out a restaurateur to operate the space and a developer to build it before it moved into the construction phase, Burroughs said.

Council member Kyle Hendricks said that there is “no rush” to move forward with the restaurant, so he would like to get more community feedback during a “better time of year,” such as June.