WSC's Stevens Hall in about 1915 or so

Picture postcard of Stevens Hall at Washington State University, then called Washington State College (WSC). On reverse side of the picture is a hand-written message dated Nov. 24, 1915. In the upper right hand corner it appears that a postage stamp may have been affixed, but removed. There is a partial postmark (see photo) with wording which appears to say/might have said, “PULLMAN, WASHINGTON COLLEGE STATION.” The College Station post office was on the WSC/WSU campus until closing in May 2006, prior to a major remodel of the station's location, the Compton Union Building (CUB).

This* College Station post office was operated by the U.S. Post Office, later called the U.S. Postal Service. When Zip Codes came into being, the College Station post office had the code 99165, different than the 99164 used by the university and 99163 used by the city of Pullman. According to information found online at the USPS.com website in Jully 2012, the finance number for the College Station post office was 54-6888. Identified as a "classified station." the station and the 99165 zip code were discontinued 5/12/2006.

*There are other College Station post offices around the country.

Demolition began 7/11/2012 on Pullman’s Hilltop Restaurant

Pullman landmark will be replaced with more hotel rooms, new dining facility

Moscow Pullman Daily News on 7/12/2012

The Hilltop Restaurant and Inn in Pullman will look different in 2013.

A groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday marked the beginning of the Hilltop Inn Remodel and Addition Project. Soon after, demolition began on the 60-year-old Hilltop Restaurant to make way for a new building containing 56 more hotel rooms for the inn.

Barb Wachter, longtime co-owner and general manager of the business, said the restaurant will be rebuilt on the property. Although the new facility will be smaller than its predecessor, the iconic view of Pullman will remain the same.

"It's been a landmark for a long time, so we're developing the property," Wachter said of the business she and her husband, Ron, have owned for 33 years. "We saw the need, and the time is right."

The restaurant rebuild is part of a renovation project, scheduled to be completed in February. The project will also bring upgrades to all the existing hotel rooms, constructed in 1996, to make them match the new units. The current rooms will be revamped with new carpets and paint.

"We're excited. We are going to have a wonderful structure with lots of amenities for our customers with a great view," Wachter said.
The Hilltop Restaurant closed its doors in May after providing one last meal for the local regular customers.

"We have a lot of very loyal local people. We had a celebration, a closure celebration, and it was amazing how many people came out, to have one last meal or one last drink," Wachter said.

Wachter said she has many fond memories of the old restaurant that housed countless reunions and wedding parties, including both of her daughers' weddings.


The restaurant and inn also hosted the "Cougar Coaches Show" for 10 years.

"The people have been wonderful that we've met, and a lot of people come back," Wachter said.

Although the Hilltop Restaurant was once called the Hilltop Steakhouse, Wachter said she plans to keep the current name for the new building.

Photos and information about the remodel can be found at www.newhilltopinn.com.

In February 2012 it was reported that Pulman's Hilltop Hotel expansion includes demolition of the Hilltop Restaurant

Info based on story in Feb. 29, 2012, City of Pullman Planning Department Newsletter:

Photo from City of Pullman shows Hilltop restaurant with red and black sign Caption: The proposed hotel expansion involves the demolition of the Hilltop Restaurant (shown on the left) to make way for 54 additional sleeping rooms.

HILLTOP INN RESUBMITS EXPANSION PLANS

In June of 2010, we reported that the Kirkbride Group of Lacey, Washington

had submitted a site plan review application to the public works department for a proposal to expand the Hilltop Inn located at the corner of Davis Way and Old Wawawai Road.

The plan involved the addition of 54 rooms to the existing 59-room, three-story motel. To provide the necessary space for this addition, the 10,000-square-foot building that contains the Hilltop Restaurant was proposed to be demolished. The applicant and city staff engaged in the iterative site plan review process until November of that year when staff sent a letter requesting correction of certain deficiencies in the proposed construction drawings.

On Feb. 13, 2012, after putting the proposal on hold for more than a year, the applicant resubmitted its site plan, and followed up soon thereafter with the provision of building plans (necessary for the issuance of a building permit).

The city’s site plan review committee met last week to consider the site plan resubmittal, and it has notified the applicant of certain deficiencies in the plan. However, if all goes smoothly, the developer intends to start the demolition and construction work at the site later this year.

Info below based on story in June 2010, City of Pullman Planning Department Newsletter:

Photo from City of Pullman shows front of Hilltop Restaurant. Caption: The Hilltop Restaurant has been serving patrons since the mid-1960s.

HILLTOP RESTAURANT TO BE DEMOLISHED FOR MOTEL ADDITION

In June 2010, the Kirkbride Group of Lacey, Washington submitted a site plan review application to the public works department for a proposal to expand the Hilltop Inn located at the corner of Davis Way and Old Wawawai Road.

The plan involves the addition of 54 rooms to the existing 59-room, three-story motel. To provide the necessary space for this addition, the 10,000-square-foot building that contains the Hilltop Restaurant is proposed to be demolished.

According to the city’s building division records, a restaurant has been in place at this site (accompanying a motel) since 1954. Back then, the eating establishment was a small drive-in restaurant and ice cream shop. The Hilltop Restaurant structure that we know today was built by then-owner Al Kircher in 1965.

Over the years, the business has been called Kircher’s Steakhouse, Hilltop Café, and Hilltop Steakhouse, until it took on its current name in the late 1970s. Ron and Barbara Wachter, long-standing owners of the motel and restaurant property, are maintaining their ownership interest in the motel facility throughout the redevelopment process.

The city’s site plan review committee has met to consider the site plan for this proposal, and it has notified the applicant of certain deficiencies in the plan. If all goes smoothly, the developer intends to start the demolition and construction work at the site late this summer.

ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT HILLTOP RESTAURANT:

==“My best recollection is that when Templin bought the Hilltop back in the 70's, (the purple chairs at the Hilltop) came from the Old Coeur d'Alene hotel, which (Robert) Templin owned before he went to Post Falls (and opened the North Shore resort which had a) nice restaurant on the 9th floor called the Cloud 9 and those chairs were there....” – A knowledgeable person told Cup of the Palouse on Sept. 9, 2010.

Photo of one of the Hilltop Restaurant's famous purple chairs by Pullman :: Cup of the Palouse.

Al Kircher was head football coach of WSU, 1952-55.

==In the year 1955, "Head coach Al Kircher’s tenure came to a close following a forgettable 1-7-2 campaign.... Kircher concluded his Cougar coaching career 13-25-2. He used the money from the buyout of his contract to purchase what would become an icon on the Palouse culinary scene: The Hilltop Steakhouse. -- By Greg Witter, Cougfan.com executive editor in article "The Fascinating Fifties" posted on July 24, 2002.

==Following the Nov. 1, 2004, death of Al Kircher, age 94, in Salem, Ore., WSU Athletics issued a news release on Dec. 8, 2004. It includes: "Following his resignation as Washington State's head football coach, Kircher and his family remained in Pullman, where they owned and operated the Hilltop Motel and Steakhouse from 1954-75. They retired to Las Vegas in 1976 and earlier this year moved to Salem."

==In a joint venture with H. F. Magnuson and Associates, Robert Templin purchased Al Kircher’s Hilltop Motel and Steakhouse in Pullman. Story says the motel, with 17-units is "perched on the west side of Pullman with an expansive view of the city.” Story says,“within a few years” Templin “plans to build a new structure on the three-acre site, with more than 200 motel rooms and a convention center.” Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Jan. 23, 1977.