The Eaglecrest Ski Area lodge, seen here in 2015, is the planned site of the Old Tower Bar, which would serve beer and wine during ski season. In a unanimous vote Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, the Alcohol Control Board rejected an alcohol license for the business. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

The Eaglecrest Ski Area lodge, seen here in 2015, is the planned site of the Old Tower Bar, which would serve beer and wine during ski season. In a unanimous vote Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, the Alcohol Control Board rejected an alcohol license for the business. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

Alcohol board puts a cork in plans for Eaglecrest bar

Unanimous vote against license for seasonal beer-and-wine bar at ski area

The state Alcohol Control Board has killed plans for a bar at Eaglecrest Ski Area this winter.

In a Monday afternoon vote, the five-person board voted unanimously to reject a recreational site alcohol license for The Old Tower Bar, which had been scheduled to operate during ski season.

“This is a bummer. I think they’re doing the town a disservice, but I’m open to hear all sides,” said Abby Williams, owner of Louie’s Douglas Inn and the person behind The Old Tower Bar, to the Empire afterward.

Monday’s vote came hours before the City and Borough of Juneau was scheduled to approve the liquor license, removing the last significant regulatory hurdle for approval. The topic of a bar at the city-owned ski area has been under discussion for years among members of the ski area’s board and the Juneau community. The Assembly approved the idea in June 2017 and General Manager Dave Scanlan repeatedly said he expected the new pub to open with the 2018-19 snow season.

“That’s unfortunate,” he said to the Empire when told of Monday’s ABC vote.

The board rejected Old Tower Bar’s license as illegal. Under state law, a recreational site license “includes a location where baseball games, car races, hockey games, dog sled racing events, or curling matches are regularly held during a season.” Ski areas aren’t covered by that law.

“Skiing/snowboarding as activities do not share the attributes of the list of examples provided in statute,” Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office director Erika McConnell wrote in a memo to board members. “There are no starting and ending times associated with an event, and if there are competitive events such as ski races, they happen infrequently. This is very different from, for example, a recreational site such as Mulcahy Stadium (in Anchorage) which only serves alcohol one hour before and during Alaska Baseball League games.”

While state law forbids ski areas from receiving a recreational site license, that hasn’t stopped the ABC board before.

At the Aug. 14 meeting of the ABC board, members approved a two-year license renewal for Arctic Valley Ski Area of Anchorage, even though McConnell urged them to reject it and said approval would violate Alaska law.

On Monday, board member Glenn Brady of Fairbanks asked why the board should reject this license when it approved the Arctic Valley license.

Board member Sara Erickson of Kenai said that license was a renewal, and this one would be a new license.

“That one, it seemed like such a crisis to the community (if it wasn’t approved),” she said, and cited legislative support for the Arctic Valley license.

“I don’t want to start a new license like this,” she said.

Board chairman Bob Klein said, “This is a new license, and we have been very hesitant to grant any new recreational site licenses that don’t very specifically follow the law.”

The Alaska Legislature’s audit of the alcohol board, released earlier this year, specifically castigated members for approving recreational site licenses that don’t follow state law.

While both Arctic Valley and Eaglecrest are ski areas, their situations in the alcohol world are different, Klein said.

“The snow might be common to it, but that’s about where it ends,” he said.

Williams said she and the city have invested almost $40,000 in the Eaglecrest bar, which would have been limited to beer and wine.

“I’ve got equipment on site. We have a building permit,” she said. “I saw it as being a quality, long-term business up there.”

Though the Old Tower Bar was denied a recreational site alcohol license, it would be technically possible for the bar to open under a different kind of alcohol license, such as the less restrictive ones used by restaurants or year-round bars.

Williams said that while it would be technically possible, it isn’t financially feasible. A restaurant beer and wine license costs $50,000 on the open market, and a beverage dispensary license used by an ordinary bar costs more than $200,000.

“I don’t have the capital that I have when I opened up Louie’s,” she said. “If I have to buy a beer and wine license, it’s not going to pencil out.”


• Contact reporter James Brooks at jbrooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.


This floor plan shows the layout of the planned Old Tower Bar at Eaglecrest Ski Area. The bar’s alcohol license was rejected by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. (AMCO document)

This floor plan shows the layout of the planned Old Tower Bar at Eaglecrest Ski Area. The bar’s alcohol license was rejected by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. (AMCO document)

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 17

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Juneau Police Department cars are parked outside the downtown branch station on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
JPD’s daily incident reports getting thinner and vaguer. Why and does it matter?

Average of 5.12 daily incidents in October down from 10.74 a decade ago; details also far fewer.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Douglas Island Breeze In on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
New owner seeks to transfer Douglas Island Breeze In’s retail alcohol license to Foodland IGA

Transfer would allow company to take over space next to supermarket occupied by Kenny’s Liquor Market.

A butter clam. Butter clams are found from the Aleutian Islands to the California coast. They are known to retain algal toxins longer than other species of shellfish. (Photo provided by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)
Among butter clams, which pose toxin dangers to Alaska harvesters, size matters, study indicates

Higher concentrations found in bigger specimens, UAS researchers find of clams on beaches near Juneau.

An aerial view of people standing near destroyed and damaged buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on Oct. 8, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Members of U.S. Senate back disaster aid request amid increasing storm severity

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s request for nearly $100 billion in natural… Continue reading

Media members and other observers gather at the Alaska Division of Elections office on Wednesday evening as the results of all ballots, including ranked choice tabulations, were announced. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Ranked choice voting repeal fails by 0.2%, Begich defeats Peltola 51.3%-48.7% on final day of counting

Tally released Wednesday night remains unofficial until Nov. 30 certification.

Looking through the dining room and reception area to the front door. The table will be covered with holiday treats during the afternoon open house. The Stickley slide table, when several extensions are added, provides comfortable seating for 22 dinner guests. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
The Governor’s House: Welcoming Alaskans for more than 100 years

Mansion has seen many updates to please occupants, but piano bought with first funds still playable.

The language of Ballot Measure 2 appears on Alaska’s 2024 absentee ballots. The measure would repeal the states open primary and ranked choice voting system. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)
Count tightens to 45-vote margin for repealing Alaska’s ranked choice system going into final day

State Division of Elections scheduled to conduct final tally at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Most Read