By Paul F. Vang
An era is coming to a close for a landmark Cut Bank business building when the current Pioneer Bar closes and moves to a new building and becomes the Pioneer Bar and TNT Casino.
Fortunately, when the doors close on the old Pioneer Bar, it won't be the end of the historic building; it is simply the beginning of a new chapter in the fascinating history of a pioneer-era structure.
Tanya Harper, owner of the Pioneer Bar for the last five years, shared her plans and her building' history with Tavern Times.
"The building is one of the original buildings of Cut Bank," she said, but simply not large enough to fit in with her business expansion plans.
Right now, a new building is being erected next door to the current Pioneer Bar and when it opens, hopefully before the New Year, will house an expanded bar and casino.
"The new Pioneer Bar will have a sports bar atmosphere, including pool tables, lots of TVs, and a small kitchen," Harper says. "The new TNT Casino will be separate from the bar, and will have 20 machines, a big screen TV, and a poker room."
The expanded building will also have a room suitable for receptions or private meetings. Plans include an outside patio area, too. Overall, the new building will be an expansive 60 by 110 feet, compared to the current building' long and narrow 25 by 80 feet dimensions.
In addition, with the larger facility Harper anticipates that she'll be able to double her staff from six employees to 12, a significant boost to the Cut Bank community' economy, and, she notes, "That helped me get financing."
Harper, a 33-year old single mom, said she first learned the bar business when she worked as a cocktail waitress in Billings. When she came back to her home town of Cut Bank she got a job as a bartender at the Pioneer Bar, and about a year later became manager. After running the bar for six years she bought the business.
"I figured that since I was managing it, I might as well own it, too," she said. Just age 27 when she bought the business, she says she had it paid for in four years. In addition to owning and operating the business she has been a Montana Tavern Association board member for the last seven years and recently finished a four year stint on the Cut Bank Chamber of Commerce board.
Tanya Harper strongly believes in supporting her community. In building her new facility, she says, "I've used local contractors for everything possible," and had to go out of town only for the TV system, security system, and walk-in cooler. As a business operator she says, "I support as many local sports activities as I can."
When she decided she needed more space and elected to build a new facility, she took a close look at the venerable building that has housed the business for so many years. One of the exterior walls is a mural featuring brands from many historic Cut Bank area ranches, so she contacted the local historical society and offered the wall for their museum. They looked at the wall and building and told her, "We'll take the whole building."
Harper said the historical society wanted to preserve the building as, besides being a direct link to Cut Bank' beginnings, it was still in relatively good condition, and would be a chance to build an exhibit featuring its original function as a general store and its later phase as a bar.
Of course, there' a minor catch. The historical society has to move the building from its present location to their museum grounds, as Tanya plans to pave over the lot where the building stands to provide customer parking for her new facility. To help facilitate the move, she hosted a fundraiser event at the old Pioneer Bar on November 18 to help the historical society come up with moving money.
Harper has taken an active role in building the new facility. "I'm out there every day," she says, and has pitched in to move heavy equipment and even operated an excavator to knock down one wall of an old meat market that was razed to make room for the new building. She notes, however, that she' had to back off from too much construction work. "They [general contractor] had enough people, and I was taking hours away from them."
As for that old meat market that was knocked down, "Many fixtures from that building will go into the general store exhibit at the museum."
Tanya Harper has enjoyed operating a business in this distinguished old building and getting to know some of its history. In going through the old structure in preparation for turning it over to the historical society, she says they found old receipts from the Prohibition era for lots of apple cider. They've also found many old Mason jars, some still sealed.
Indications of bootlegging? "I'm not going to say for sure, but that' what it looks like to me," Harper says.
In addition to those tantalizing artifacts, Tanya enjoys a personal connection to the building' history. One of her regular customers is Henry Jacobson, whose father' uncle was one of the partners in that original general store a century ago. "He comes in and plays pitch with me every day."
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Jan., 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.