SANDPOINT - It may have seemed like a dark cavern for a while, but when the work is complete and the new downtown restaurant opens, it will be the light at the top of the line.

Jeff and Tasha Walker, who purchased a Pita Pit franchise here, plan to have the restaurant on the corner of First Avenue and Bridge Street open by Labor Day. But first they have some major reconstruction to finish.

The couple locked into a location for Sandpoint's Pita Pit after deciding on the franchise in February.

They hoped to have the restaurant open by Memorial Day, but have set their sights on Labor Day instead.

Construction comes first.

"It's a top to bottom deal," Jeff Walker said.

When workers tore out the floor of the former snowboard shop during a remodel, they found a fuel tank.

"I guess it used to be a service station," Jeff said.

Tasha, who grew up in Sandpoint, vaguely remembered the gas station at the corner.

Over the decades the location served as a gas station, convenience store, a Honda dealership and a board shop, she said.

The Pita Pit will take up two storefronts and follow company standards: Motif, colors, food and service will be first rate, she said.

There will be an exception.

"It will be bigger than most Pita Pits," she said. "We want to make sure we have room for winter, for people to come in."

The restaurant will deliver its famous health-conscious entrees and it will stay open as late as 3 a.m.

The couple, who met while working at a restaurant in Boise, opted to return to Tasha's hometown to raise their daughter, six-year-old Makena.

Both of them had worked in restaurants for years. Jeff moved to Hawaii to learn the business, but returned to the Boise area, where he was raised, to earn an education degree from Boise State University.

The first time Tasha showed off her hometown, Jeff was smitten.

"He asked when are we going to move here?" she said.

They moved back recently, but education cuts made finding a teaching job sketchy.

Instead, they drew up new plans.

They considered opening a traditional restaurant, but as they probed market ideas, the Pita Pit model kept resurfacing.

"They have a great attitude," Tasha said. "For us that's really important.

"To love what you're doing and work hard at it."

Her husband, she said with a smile, will work some long hours.

Jeff doesn't mind.

"It's a fun place," he said.