KELSEYVILLE— The once famous Konocti Harbor Resort in Kelseyville held a soft opening last month. After 15 long years of closed doors the restaurants, marina and lodge have been fully remodeled and taking bookings.
The resort was purchased by its current owners (Bay area developers Shekou Management LLC and members of Andi Saberi’s family) in March of 2018 for 5 million dollars. It totals 137 acres and houses several hotel units, a lodge, restaurants, bars, a marina, spa, pool, tennis courts, indoor theatre, and outdoor amphitheater. Though development will continue for the next few years, the focus has been on opening the hotel, theater, restaurants, spa, and marina. As of now, the 124-room hotel, marina, and Andy’s Tavern restaurant and sports bar are completely operational with the marina bar and grill, spa and theatre in line to open by the end of this summer.
According to Managing Director Russell Hamel, restoring the 10,000 capacity amphitheater whose stage once welcomed classic bands including Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson and Black Sabbath, “will take a significant investment.” That being said Hamel further noted “That is the number one most frequently asked question we get and the answer is we would love to have live music back.” Although they do have local acts playing at Andy’s Tavern, the resort’s current plan is to book smaller bands for the indoor theatre which has a capacity of 1,500 while renovating the outdoor venue.
Hamel added, “We brought the theatre back to life. We breathed life back into this.” He said, “You have to do it for the passion, not the profit.” Explaining the full extent of renovations Hamel said, “We rebuilt all of the bathrooms, all of the hardware and plumbing. This place was never designed to have as many people there as they did.” He continued “It has its own water treatment and wastewater facilities. He compared it to rebuilding a small town. Hamel described the very beginnings as being worthy of its own film, as it was quite the journey into the history of the property.
Recently the resort held a “pressure test” before opening to the public where the resort hosted a full-blown event in the theater while the resort was still closed to the public at large. The event was the local Rotary District Conference which took place from May 4 to 7 hosting almost 300 Rotarians from across the state.
Laura McAndrews Sammel, President of the Lakeport Rotary Club, CEO of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and MC of the conference said, “It was so exciting to be part of something so significant. It was a shot in the arm, everyone was on high the entire weekend.” Walking the halls donned with signed photos of previous acts was nostalgic. Sammel added, “They did a good job of maintaining the familiarity of it.” As MC of the event Sammel was the first to grace that stage since John Lowery in 2009 followed by the Lake County Diamonds the next night. Despite parts of the resort still being closed, Sammel described the rooms and property as “pristine”, especially the pool area which was unfortunately too cold to test out. In closing, Sammel highlighted an integral part of the conference stating, “The staff went above and beyond, I can’t say enough about the team they put together.” Hamel noted that the pressure test was a success.
When Hamel first arrived at the resort, he said it was “a jungle” after being abandoned for almost a decade. “She’s an old girl. It’s a lot of work. No rest days, there’s always one thing after the other.” But it’s a labor of love as the owners, management and staff of almost 70 share a passion for the property and its history, and a desire to revitalize the resort back to its former glory. Hamel said, “The people who work here are amazing. We’ve developed a core group and they are the ones who built Konocti. They brought this back. And much credit to the owners for taking this on.” When Konocti closed in 2009, 500 people became unemployed and there was an economic downturn. The resort then sat on the market for another nine years, waiting for the right developers with the right vision.
Moving forward the resort hopes to host even more events beyond concerts including car shows, boat shows and fishing tournaments. “We are only limited by our imaginations. It’s a blank canvas we are just beginning to paint on.” said Hamel. Only being open a short time, the resort has already received a grand welcoming from the community and even tourists who visited over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. “We’ve received amazing support from different business leaders in the community and also the county.” Despite the hurdles faced with the covid 19 pandemic, extreme weather, and now a statewide staffing shortage, the resort pushes through gratefully, as Hamel shared, “We are happy to be here. Happy to see it open and we look forward to our future here.”
