GREEN RIVER — The historic Hotel Tomahawk in downtown Green River is weeks away from welcoming its first guests in decades, with an opening tentatively scheduled for early June.

GRoWYO, which purchased the building from Green River Futures in 2017, has spent years clearing structural, city, and state hurdles to get to this point. Amy Stone of GRoWYO said the third floor hotel rooms are nearly ready for their first guests.

“We call it 100 years of DIY,” Stone said of the building’s condition when they took it on.

The Rooms

The third floor will house nine suites: four executive suites, one crown jewel suite, one studio, and standard suites. The design targets longer-term stays, with amenities including in-room kitchens and larger floor plans.

Roughly 70% of the building’s structural elements were repaired or replaced. A new egress was recently installed and a fire suppression system was installed in 2018 to bring the century-old structure up to modern fire codes.

GRoWYO worked to preserve as much original material as possible. On the second floor, new lumber frames sit directly alongside 100-year-old beams throughout the building.

“The functionality has changed but the structure stayed the same,” Stone said.

The Second Floor

The hotel’s second floor is being converted into small business spaces, giving local entrepreneurs a brick-and-mortar presence in downtown Green River. Red White and Buffalo will operate a makerspace for local artisans and craftsmen. Stone said the goal is to build an ecosystem where local businesses can thrive.

This isn’t GRoWYO’s first downtown renovation, the organization previously transformed the old First National Bank building on the same street into the current Earthwise location.

“It’s really just giving back to the community and creating a downtown for people to enjoy again,” Stone said.