North Bend Tavern changes hands, awaiting renovation

Published 7:05 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Retired Exxon marine communications officer and North Bend

resident Robert Yerkes recently acquired the former North Bend Tavern,

located at 228 West North Bend Way. The sale went through on Aug. 10.

Yerkes said he intends to renovate the building as part of the city’s

downtown revitalization project and plans to turn it into a

business/commercial property. As part of the process,

he hopes to work closely with the city’s staff.

“There’s a lot of money moving into the North Bend area now,”

he commented. “We need to set a trend for downtown _ or old North Bend

_ aiming for what we want it to be ten years from now. That’s my

philosophy for renovating the building.”

Yerkes plans to auction off the old tavern furniture and appliances

on Saturday, Oct. 30. Depending on the permit process, he hopes to start

work on the renovation some time in November.