Two IVGID buildings are on the replacement list, and only one has a fence around it. The Incline Beach House is under construction at 967 Lakeshore Blvd. and is scheduled to finish in mid-summer 2027. The Snowflake Lodge at Diamond Peak has a design contract and a floor plan on paper, and no approval to build anything. Both are aging buildings on the Incline Village General Improvement District's capital plan, supported by the same annual fee, which makes them easy to blur together. Planning your next twelve months around them requires keeping them apart.
The Beach Day Moved Next Door
The Incline Beach snack bar, tiki bar and restrooms are gone from the shoreline this year. In their place is an active construction zone, and the normal vehicle entrance is closed. Fencing around the project perimeter takes several parking spaces, and IVGID steers beachgoers to the Aspen Grove and Overflow lots across Lakeshore Boulevard.
Food and drink relocated to Ski Beach, where a mobile snack bar called the Incline Surf Shack serves sandwiches with names like the Hula Pig and the Cow-Abunga. Cash is not accepted at IVGID beaches, food outlets included. Anyone walking in to Ski Beach uses the dedicated gate west of the guard kiosk and shows a Picture Pass, a Punch Card or a scannable photo of one.
IVGID's food and beverage manager, Evan Carsman, said the district is "actively exploring ways to enhance food and beverage offerings at Ski Beach" while the Beach House is built. That reads as a plan to improve a stopgap, and the stopgap is scheduled to run through the 2027 beach season's opening stretch.
The Concert Series Changed Hands Before the Building Did
The most visible change at the beach this year has nothing to do with concrete. Incline Spirits ran the Barefoot Bar at Incline Beach for 16 years and Music on the Beach was part of that arrangement. That arrangement ended, and IVGID took over management of the series for 2026.
The sound stayed familiar. The district contracted Mitch Harbaugh, who has run the concerts for more than ten years, to book the bands and emcee. The series moved to Ski Beach for one summer, with music most Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m., a schedule that typically runs May through mid-September. By the calendar, the 2026 season is over.
Earlier announcements said the concerts would relocate to Burnt Cedar Beach. IVGID's current event page says Ski Beach, and that is where they were held.
The 2027 return is where the new operating arrangement will show. The Beach House design includes a bar that sits slightly closer to the lake than the old one, with separate queues for the bar and the food window. It also has patio seating, two fire pits just west of the patio, and upgraded band infrastructure built for Music on the Beach. IVGID says the concerts continue at Incline Beach in 2027 and beyond. The district's published materials do not say who will operate the bar. The concert series now sits with the district, and the building that will house the next beach bar is a district project.
A Building That Waited Since 2016
The Beach House moved quickly this year after stalling for years before that. IVGID's board first prioritized replacing the restrooms and snack bar in 2016. When money was allocated at the time, it went to the Burnt Cedar pool instead.
The design settled after years of revisions. Trustees approved a design-build agreement with CORE Construction on Dec. 10, 2025, at a budget of about $9.4 million, roughly a million dollars below earlier discussions, with a contingency of up to $235,000. Local press coverage of the groundbreaking put the project at nearly $11 million, so the number depends on what is counted. TRPA reviewed the demolition and rebuild in late March 2026, and construction started this spring.
The finished building has a commercial kitchen with ordering and pick-up windows and restrooms with expanded capacity, open year-round. IVGID says that removes the need for temporary porta-potties outside holiday periods. It also includes improvements to the vehicle turn-around and drop-off areas.
Trustees also agreed in 2025 that a separate Incline Beach Access Project waits until the Beach House is finished. That work is sequenced behind the Beach House.
Snowflake Lodge Is Still a Drawing
Snowflake Lodge has been on the district's mind far longer than the Beach House. The mid-mountain lodge opened in 1966 and has never had a substantial renovation beyond deck and seating additions. IVGID says the need for a replacement was first identified about 40 years ago, in the 1987 Ski Incline Master Plan.
The current work is much earlier in the process than the beach. SE Group presented a needs assessment to the board on March 25, 2026, with four scenarios. Their projected added income ran from roughly nothing in the baseline case to about $3 million in the largest one. Trustee Mick Homan said doing nothing was not an option. Trustee Dave Noble leaned toward the third scenario, saying the district tends to build small and hit capacity quickly.
The proposed 30% architectural design contract describes an 11,600-square-foot lodge with 3,500 square feet of outdoor deck, 160 indoor seats, 175 outdoor seats and space for an event of about 120 people. That contract was scheduled for the board's Sept. 23, 2026 meeting, so the minutes are the place to confirm what happened. Diamond Peak's own planning page states that no final design or construction authorization has been approved, and that no new permanent summer or year-round operating program has been approved either.
| Incline Beach House | Snowflake Lodge | |
|---|---|---|
| Stage | Under construction since spring 2026 | 30% design contract before the board Sept. 23 |
| Money | About $9.4 million contract approved Dec. 2025 | Planning-level cost work only |
| Target | Mid-summer 2027 | None set |
| Approval to build | In hand | "No final design or construction authorization" |
The dates from the beach cannot be applied to the mountain. Diamond Peak also has separate projects in progress, including replacement of aging pumps and snowmaking infrastructure and work on Lakeview Lift operations and beginner-skier circulation. Each has its own board and permitting path.
What the Fee Is Paying For
Both projects sit inside the district's five-year capital plan, and the fee behind that plan changed this summer. For 2026-27, the Recreation Facility Fee is $1,385 and the Beach Facility Fee is $145, a combined $1,530 on most parcels. The combined figure was $1,375 the year before. A parcel with beach access gets five cards a year, and each Punch Card carries $173 of value, against $157 for parcels without beach access.
That money buys a sequence, and the sequence matters more than the total. The Beach House is at the stage where dollars are turning into a building. Snowflake is at the stage where dollars are buying drawings and cost estimates.
Planning Around It Until Summer 2027
- Beach access this fall and winter. Incline Beach stays a construction site, so the temporary entrance and limited parking apply to any visit before the 2027 season.
- Diamond Peak passes. The 2026-27 season passes went on sale in the spring, and IVGID pass prices rise in mid-December when public passes increase. Buying an IVGID-rate pass requires a Picture Pass, because Punch Cards do not qualify for the discounted season pass rates.
- Card expiration. Punch Cards expire on May 31 regardless of when they were issued, and they cannot be reloaded within the fiscal year they were issued.
- Snowflake Lodge. The building that exists today is the one that operates this winter. The district's materials do not describe a closure, and none should be assumed.
- The 2027 concert season. The series returns to Incline Beach with new band infrastructure, provided the mid-summer 2027 completion date holds.
The Beach House schedule was set in March 2026, and the district said then that construction impacts continue into next year's beach season.
If you own in Incline Village and want to talk through how the beach house timeline and the Snowflake decision fit into your own plans, The Brassie Group is ready to talk about your highest possible return.
