A former Skippers restaurant near the Silver Lake Mall in Coeur d’Alene is being converted into a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant. 

The new restaurant’s owner, Mark Engberson, is a Spokane-based franchisee for both Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and Wingstop outlets.

Hayden-based NorthWest Contracting, is the general contractor for the $550,000 remodeling project at 327 W. Hanley. Owner Rich Overlin says construction started in October and includes remodeling the 2,000-square-foot building there and adding new equipment. 

“This will be a complete interior demo and also includes an exterior facelift and rebuild,” says Overlin. 

Engberson says he hopes the project will be near completion next month, but isn’t certain yet about when the restaurant will open.

“The heart of the operation is the barbecue pit, and that’s still being manufactured right now,” he says. “It’s set to arrive mid-December so we have to be able to accommodate that, as well as hiring and training staff.” 

He says the new restaurant likely will be hiring at least 15 employees. 

“The building has always had a drive-thru, and that was a unique feature we decided to keep,” he says. 

Based in Texas, Dickey’s is touted to be one of the largest barbecue restaurant chains in the U.S., says Engberson. In the Spokane area, he operates one Dickey’s restaurant at 12628 N. Division and a Wingstop outlet at 9333 N. Newport Highway. 

In addition to the new Coeur d’Alene restaurant, Engberson says he and his partners in an ownership group named the Palouse Restaurant Group still are pursuing plans to open several more Dickey’s and Wingstop restaurants during the next five years.   

The group already owns a variety of quick-serve restaurants, including Carl’s Jr. and Subway eateries. Engberson says once the Coeur d’Alene restaurant is open, the group’s next planned Dickey’s location likely will be in Airway Heights.

“We’re still looking into possible locations, but that’s the next area we’d like to get started in,” he says.

Another Dickey’s restaurant, owned separately by Theresa and Tom McCarty, recently opened in Spokane Valley. Engberson says his staff helped train employees for that outlet, which opened last May at 14720 E. Sprague.