The Golden Door Motel Is Demolished, At Lake Of The Ozarks

The sun has set on a beloved motel that welcomed guests to Lake of the Ozarks for more than half a century.

The Golden Door Motel was (mostly) demolished last week, as crews continue clearing a 14-acre stretch of Ozark hillside for a planned $30.5 million development in Osage Beach. The property is prime real estate. It stands in the midst of arguably the hottest spot for commercial development at the Lake: the stretch of Osage Beach Parkway between the Grand Glaize Bridge and Highway 42.

The Golden Door Motel was built in 1965 and the Tyler family bought it in 1982. A favorite among anglers, the Golden Door hosted visitors to the Lake year-round, welcoming them with its memorable revolving gold-colored door in the sky.

Next door, the Happy Fisherman restaurant welcomed anglers for a hot meal after a day of casting on the Lake of the Ozarks. Those anglers would return to stay at the Golden Door and eat at the Happy Fisherman year after year. The motel commonly took reservations for the following calendar year.

Golden Door Motel Is Demolished — LakeExpo.com photo

But time changes everything. The Happy Fisherman already came down in November, and and now at the site, the wooded hillside is yielding to developers' dreams. Their plans: a 131,000-square-foot retail center, expected to contain a mix of retail tenants and restaurants. And though rumors abound, city officials and developers have remained tight-lipped about what retailers will be brought in.

The City of Osage Beach approved a $4.5 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the project. City officials have said completion is expected by the spring of 2019.