Iconic Bierstube set for major renovation
Whitefish Mountain Resort employees and patrons gather at the Bierstube Wednesday night for the weekly Frabert awards. After making general announcements about mountain safety, the ski patrol reads a list of errors made by fellow employees during the past week. (Seaborn Larson/Daily Inter Lake)
A 50-year-old staple of Big Mountain will see a series of updates after renewing its lease.
Whitefish Mountain Resort announced last week that it had reached an agreement with Bierstube owner, Scott McIntosh, for a 10-year lease allowing the iconic bar to remain in its current location in the upper village.
The building will see new siding, doors, windows, roof and deck as part of a renovation project that will begin this spring and be completed by the 2017-18 ski season.
“I am very excited about the future of the Bierstube,” McIntosh said in a prepared release. “Having a long-term lease allows me to re-invest in the facility and I am looking forward to working closely with the mountain planning continued improvements.”
While the biggest changes in this renovation will be made to the exterior, some interior improvements are planned while maintaining the bar’s charm, McIntosh noted.
Local design firm Montana Creative architecture + design put together the building’s new exterior design, which features board and batten siding to keep with the look of other current buildings in the village. The deck will be partly covered by a gable roof and extend off the west end of the building.
The renovation will be managed by McIntosh and completed by Dow’s Custom Construction of Whitefish.
Although there has been a Bierstube in one form or another on the Big Mountain since 1947, the business has been located in its current building since 1967. It was built by Gary Tallman of Tallman Construction for Jim and Joyce Black, Big Mountain employees who took over management of the bar, and was approved by then President and General Manager Ed Schenck.
The resort took over control of the bar in the early 1970s and later leased the business to Whitefish businessman Gary Elliot. McIntosh took over the business 14 years ago.
The resort in 2011 finished a two-phase rebuild of the Bierstube’s foundation after it was discovered the building was beginning to lean. Deck improvements were also completed in 2014.
The Bierstube remains a link to the past — the walls and ceiling are covered with old photographs, retired ski area signs, ski memorabilia and a well-worn stuffed monkey that represents a tradition that pre-dates the building.
“The ‘Stube has long been part of our skiing heritage and culture for everyone from the part-time employee to the homeowners across the street,” McIntosh said. “It’s both a fixture of the past and the heartbeat of the mountain today. It is very exciting to preserve this piece of history for decades to come.”