WAITSBURG - In what Ken Cole Jr. described as "a weird offshoot of community service" a group of locals are forging ahead with plans to bring casual family dining back to Waitsburg. The demolition of the long- vacant White Stallion restaurant was slated to begin Wednesday. Investors hope to have the tentatively named Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill up and running in its place as early as October.

Dan Cole, Ken Cole, Jr., Guy McCaw and Byron Seney, along with wives Trina, Elizabeth, Lynn and Kim, formed the Waitsburg Investment Group, LLC and purchased the former White Stallion property in February. They will demo the current building and rebuild with the goal of providing the community with a place where families, kids, travelers and ball teams can stop for a breakfast or burger.

Ken Cole said he, brother Dan Cole and

McCaw have talked about doing something like this for years. "We no longer have a place for the kids in town to eat," said Ken

Cole who recalls handing burgers out the door of the former Bullseye Tavern to kids lined up outside. When the Stallion became available, Seney was interested as well and the group decided it was time to move for­ward.

The partners all chipped in to purchase the property, considering it "pretty much a donation." "We hope that it will pay for itself and we won't have to feed it, but we don't expect to make a lot of money off it. We just think the community needs a place to get a breakfast and a meal. We're hoping they will support that. So far the response has been all positive," said Cole.

"We are four very different personalities and each brings something different to the table," he said. "We're all relatively successful businessmen. Dan and I have experience in construction and Dan has worked with food vendors. Byron is tenacious when it comes to research and Guy is the most level-headed and keeps us on track."

Cole said they have an overall plan for the approxi­mately 3,200 square foot building, but are about eight weeks out on the final de­sign. They have been work­ing with Bill Ayotte of Sysco Services and Jeff FaGalde of Mid Valley Restaurant Equipment on design input. They have also consulted with local restaurateur Jim German on design.

"We made a basic floor plan and we're handing it to people who know what they're doing," said Cole.

The restaurant will have a pub-style, sports bar feel, similar to The Green or Stone Hut in Walla Walla, but will be open to kids. The well-lit, open floor plan will be similar to Applebees with a half-wall dividing family dining from the over-21 area.

They plan to offer light gaming with pull tabs and shuffle board in the bar area and a pool table available for minors. Tentative plans include front patio seating with gas heaters and they are considering the addition of showers for truckers or travelers.

Cole said working locally is very important and the LLC is using contractors "as close as we can get within reason." All-Safe Abatement of Kennewick completed the asbestos removal and Bad­ger Construction of Dayton will be doing the demoli­tion. The group has been in contact with Charlie Barron of Walla Walla Electric and Stan Blye Plumbing as well. A general contractor will be selected once the final de­sign is in place.

A second LLC will be formed for the actual opera­tion of the facility and that LLC will hire a manger to run the restaurant. "We don't plan to micromanage the fa­cility," said Cole. "Our intent is to have an excellent man­ager who is very experienced with this type of business."

Initial plans have the res­taurant open from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. "We plan to have a limited menu, with above- standard food," said McCaw. They anticipate offering breakfasts, burgers, soups, sandwiches and running weekly specials like taco or prime rib nights.

On Tuesday, workers were busy removing windows and other fixtures from the White Stallion building in Waitsburg, to make way for its demolition on Wednesday. Local inves­tors plan to build a new restaurant and bar on the site, to be called the Whiskey Creek Sports Bar and Grill.

While McCaw acknowl­edged that grabbing 1% of the highway traffic would be wonderful, they know that community support will be key.

"We're incredibly sup­portive of the restaurants that are already here," said Mc­Caw. "We're just hoping to fill the void for casual family dining."