New Beacon Bar welcoming to all
By Shaun Tatarka
For the Montana Tavern Times
As a real estate agent, Mari Enott saw the value of 2.5 acres of river front property. And as a new business owner she knew the value of a tried and true name.
So when the Great Falls woman discovered that the legendary Beacon bar was up for sale, she jumped at the opportunity. And she immediately changed the name back to its original moniker.
The Beacon Icehouse, formerly known as Beaver Creek for a short time before it shut down in 2003, has a long and storied past in the Electric City. And the bar is once again alive and well in Great Falls, thanks to Enott, who purchased the bar in early 2005. Though she added the “Icehouse” when she reopened the bar, she knew the Beacon name had to be restored.
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| Owner Mari Enott poses with customers. |
“You just don't take something that's been the Beacon since 1913 and change the name,” Enott said.
The name wasn't the only thing Enott restored. Since owning the bar she's added sliding glass doors that lead to a deck that offers a stunning view of the river. She intends to add another deck soon. “The place was very dark before, and we wanted to give it some light and the sliding glass doors do that,” Enott said.
Between the deck and the flowing Missouri River, sits 9,000 square feet of new sod, replacing concrete. This newly installed lawn was threatened by a flood that covered it for six days shortly after it was put down. Fortunately it has recovered nicely and will allow the Beacon to host outdoor concerts, games, car shows, wedding receptions and more.
There's even a campfire pit and two docks on the property for easy river access. “It's a great outdoor bar in the summer,” Enott said.
But there's plenty to do inside the Beacon Icehouse as well. A full-size pool table, electronic darts and gaming machines are perfect for those who are waiting for the dancing to begin. And on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the Icehouse becomes a Karaoke Bar, which has proven to be very popular, somewhat to Enott's surprise.
“I never thought I would own a Karaoke bar but I wasn't making much money with the live bands, “ she said. “And we were lucky as we were one of the first bars in town to do karaoke, and the first to have karaoke contests with a lot of money as prizes.”
As a result she says the bar hosts some fantastic local singers. “We usually have more people dancing to our karaoke singers than we did with many of the live bands. We really have some great singers – except when I get up there.”
As a result of all the changes, the Beacon Icehouse clientele has changed since its Beaver Creek days.
“It's a really good mix,” Enott said. “It's fun to sit here on the deck and see people my age (40s), people my parents age, and the kids, and everybody seems to get along real well. We see a lot of professionals in ties sitting in there having a happy-hour beverage with a construction worker. It's just what I wanted – that anyone from any walk of life can come here and feel welcome.”
Enott says that re-opening a bar that had been closed for a couple of years presented some challenges. “It was hard getting people back over here. It was basically like starting a new business since it had been shut down. So we used newspaper and radio at first and now we just do radio. We have a great relationship with the radio stations so it's basically radio and word of mouth at this point.”
Though the Beacon Icehouse is neither hard to find nor hard to get to, it is on a dead-end road near an RV park, another challenge for Enott.
“We don't get any thru-traffic so it has to be a destination. You have to intentionally be headed for the Beacon Icehouse, but fortunately we aren't too far away.”
Enott said it did take a while for Great Falls residents to return to the bar, but a steady increase led to a banner 2009 and the Beacon Icehouse has been growing in popularity ever since. You can tell how successful the bar has become when you ask Enott how her gig as a real estate agent is going these days.
“I went inactive a year ago,” she says with a smile. As a result of her hard work and commitment to restoring what some consider a Great Falls landmark, Great Falls residents can once again go “Sneakin’ at the Beacon.”