Poway to tear down Big Stone Lodge

It appears that the days are numbered for The Big Stone Lodge, a Poway landmark that dates back to the 1920s.

On Tuesday night, the City Council will hold a workshop session on plans first approved in 2006 to tear down the Old Pomerado Road structure, saving a few of its stones as part of a historical monument. The property, purchased in 2003, would be developed into a passive park.

The changes to the property will cost about $400,000, according to city estimates.

The workshop session will be part of the regular City Council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. It is the first Council meeting in a month.

After purchasing the property in 2003, the city considered renovating it for some public use, such as a recreation center or social hall. However, officials discovered the building was in such poor physical shape that renovation would be cost prohibitive.

City planner Patty Brindle said that when plans for the new park move forward, the location will have barbecues, picnic tables and drought-tolerant landscaping that should transform the site into a more friendly space. Trails on site will eventually connect into a countywide system linking the coast to the mountains.

Prior to the site holding a building made of stones, it was a stage coach rest stop. A gas station was built in 1925 and operated until 1929, according to a city consultant’s report.

Topsy’s Roost was added in the early 1930s. A speak-easy operated on site during Prohibition.

Later the building became the popular Big Stone country-western bar, which later became the Pomerado Club. St. Michael’s first pastor, Father Michael Coughlan, celebrated Sunday Mass there for a brief time in 1959, according to the report.

When Scripps Poway Parkway opened in 1997, the end of Pomerado Road that originally connected to Scripps Ranch was closed off. The road was renamed Old Pomerado Road.