Lemon Lodge Ski Bar, an entertainment venue that brought an indoor ski and snowboard simulator to downtown Colorado Springs, closed Wednesday less than a year after it opened last summer.

The business, at 111 E. Pikes Peak Ave. in the former space occupied by Josh & John’s Ice Cream, featured a German-made SkyTechSport simulator, which offered skiers and snowboarders realistic mountain conditions on a variety of courses and with adjustable snow settings. Lemon Lodge also offered food and beverages.

Husband-and-wife owners Matthew and Melanie Hexter, who operate Evergood Adventure Wines in Palmer Lake, said their goal was to provide a venue where guests could learn to ski and snowboard, improve their techniques and rehab injuries, while also enjoying drinks and lodge food in a fun, relaxing and social setting.

The Hexters, however, say they encountered severe financial hardships, much of which they blame on the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department — criticisms that the joint city of Colorado Springs and El Paso County agency disputes. The department reviews plans for new construction and remodeling projects, issues building permits and conducts inspections.

The couple had received Regional Building’s written approval of plans drawn up by their architects and engineers and targeted a March 2023 opening for Lemon Lodge Ski Bar, Melanie Hexter said. Instead, they weren’t able to hold a soft opening until July and didn’t have their grand opening until late August, she said.

In spite of plans approved by Regional Building Department officials, agency inspectors would show up “unannounced” and required the Hexters to make unnecessary changes to their plans, which forced them to delay their March opening, Melanie Hexter said.

The couple then spent $75,000 to $80,000 more to have plans redrawn and upgrades made because of what they felt were “whimsical” and “capricious” changes requested by inspectors, Melanie Hexter said.

In addition to those expenses, Melanie Hexter said the couple drained their cash reserves to cover costs of the simulator, insurance, security cameras and staffing while the business remained closed and no revenues were coming in.

She acknowledged the business might have been hurt by the economy and likely suffered because of the early 2023 closing of the next-door Kimball’s Peak Three Theater, which shut down after the death of owner Kimball Bayles.

Asked if the ski simulator concept itself was faulty to begin with, since residents can drive a few hours to ski resorts and experience the real thing, Hexter said there’s no way to know for sure.

“We would say that, if it’s good enough for the U.S. Ski Team, then it’s good enough for the rest of us,” she said. The SkyTechSport website says its simulator is used by the U.S. Ski Team.

“This is a great way for people to condition year-round,” she added. “It’s a great way to re-hab injuries, it’s a great way to introduce new people, of which there are so many transplants to Colorado Springs, to the alpine sports.”

In response, Pikes Peak Regional Building Department spokesman Greg Dingrando said the timeline the Hexters provided doesn’t match the agency’s records.

Plans for Lemon Lodge Ski Bar weren’t submitted to Regional Building until Feb. 8, 2023, and then were rejected on three separate occasions because of code violations or missing items, Dingrando said.

Regional Building eventually approved the venue’s plans April 13, which cleared the way for building permits to be pulled, he said. The first building permit — for an interior remodel of the space at 111 E. Pikes Peak — then was pulled 12 days later on April 25 by general contractor Murphy Constructors of Colorado Springs, records show.

After the first permit was pulled, contractors requested two changes to the original plans, which further delayed work being done at the Lemon Lodge site, Dingrando said.

On the question of Regional Building Department inspectors arriving at Lemon Lodge unannounced, Dingrando said inspectors only show up at job sites in response to inspection requests by contractors and subcontractors.