Stagecoach Inn developers shooting to reopen restaurant for Valentine’s 2017

Stagecoach Inn Restaurant may open as early as Valentine’s 2017, according to general contractor Mark Rawlings.

Rawlings began work earlier this month on the restaurant, stripping it down to the bare bones.

“We’re glad that the bones are in good shape,” said Clark Lyda, principal of the Stagecoach 1943, LP group which now owns the Stagecoach Inn.

Nathan Quiring, project architect with Clayton and Little architects, told Salado Village Voice that the first focus on the overall project is “to get the restaurant up and running.” (Editor’s note: since the original publication of this story, Clayton and Little architects has become Clayton Korte. The name change reflects a recent shift in firm leadership, ownership, and design direction. Clayton Korte is now led by partners Paul Clayton, Brian Korte, Sam Manning, and Nathan Quiring.)

That work will include a complete remodel of the kitchen area, and a reimagining of the building that has been added to and expanded on since the original Salado Hotel and then Shady Villa opened in 1860.

“It seems like it has been added to every decade,” Quiring said with a laugh.

The front entry will remain a welcoming place. Dining areas will include the glass-lined rooms surrounding the atrium, the original groundfloor rooms of the old two-story building, the large room immediately behind the entryway. The upstairs of the 1860 building will be used for small meetings and groups.

The large room on the north end of the restaurant will be used for groups and gatherings, according to Jeff Trigger, of LaCorsha, which will manage the property when it is completed.

Once the restaurant opens its doors, the Longhorn Conference Center will continue to serve in its capacity for groups and gatherings.

The team put together for this project are no strangers to challenges of historic structures.

In 1998, restoration specialist Mark Rawlings turned his focus to the hotel industry beginning with the restoration of the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin.

According to his biography, other hotel clients followed including the Hilton Austin, Barton Creek Resort and Spa, Lakeway Resort, Sheraton Capitol, Vintage Villas at Lake Travis, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree Guest Suites, Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental, Omni Southpark, as well as the historic St. Anthony in San Antonio.

He is also the contractor for The Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells.

Jeff Trigger is the president of LaCorsha Hospitality Group. LaCorsha has developed Second Bar + Kitchen on Congress Ave. in Austin, Boiler Nine Bar + Grill, at the Seaholm Power Plant in Austin, the Hotel St. George in Marfa and Hotel Settles in Big Spring.

LaCorsha is currently developing two more locations of Second Bar + Kitchen (The Domain, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport), as well as  The East Austin Hotel; Green Pastures, Austin. and The Baker Hotel & Spa, Mineral Wells.

The developers, architects, contractor and management were on the property this week for a team meeting.

The team, according to Lyda, has “a clear understanding of the Stagecoach’s history, the strength of the brand and people’s affection for it, and the potential of the place to once again draw locals and visitors from across Texas.”

“Our goal is to re-establish the Stagecoach Inn as a destination venue in Texas for small conferences, special events and weekend tourism travel,” Lyda said, adding that the group will capitalize on “the strong brand of the Stagecoach Inn as an authentic place offering gracious hospitality.”

Lyda is a lifelong central Texan. He fondly recalls weekend visits from Austin to the Stagecoach Inn with his family. A commercial developer, he was labeled by the Austin Chronicle as the “anti-developer developer” because of his inclinations toward preserving the historical and cultural integrity of the developments in which he has invested.

During a career that has spanned more than two decades, he has chosen unique projects, including most recently the Perry Mansion in Austin for renovation and redevelopment.

Lyda is the co-owner of Monument Cafe and El Monumento in Georgetown.

“It’s not going to be Monument or Mexican,” he told Salado Village Voice, “It will be definitively Stagecoach Inn. We are hoping to make Salado proud.”