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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A longtime lounge that fell off the map of downtown Yellowknife officially relaunched on the weekend.

The Yellowknife Inn's Mackenzie Lounge, which closed in the fall of 2008, held its grand reopening with a live set courtesy of popular local band The Dawgwoods on Friday.

From left, Thom Jarvis, Yellowknife Inn spokesperson as of press time, and Scott Smicer, assistant general manager, show off the interior of the recently reopened Mackenzie Lounge. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Around 150 people attended the event, according to Scott Smicer, assistant general manager of the hotel. Following on the heels of the wall-to-wall renovation of the hotel's lobby, meeting halls and rooms, the reopening of the lounge signals the completion of the hotel's rebirth, said Thom Jarvis, spokesperson for the inn as of press time.

The lounge holds a special place in Jarvis' heart. In the early 1980s, when he was working as an opthalmic dispenser at Imperial Optical, Jarvis used to visit the bar with friends after a hard day's work.

"It was one of the hot spots back in the day," he said. "It was just the ambience of the room. It was a nice room. It was fairly quiet. You could hear yourself talk. It had great acoustics. And because it wasn't that large, it was very easy to mingle and interact with people."

The lounge, which seats approximately 75 people, has undergone a minimum of changes in terms of look - the wood panelling and quilted green carpet are still there. But one important retrofit has been made.

The lounge, said Jarvis, "was very dark, which was popular one time. Dark ceilings, dark walls, almost cavernous.

"We've brightened up the colours considerably," he said, adding the ceiling has been changed from dark green to beige, the walls from burgundy, "a very outdated colour," to taupe.

"It will be a nice option for people downtown ... something else," he said of the new lounge.

Bob Ross, owner of Surly Bob's, agreed another choice of lounge is a welcome thing for downtown workers.

"At least, when people are walking downtown, they'll see there's another place they can go besides my place or the Black Knight," said Ross.

He too has fond memories of the old Mackenzie Lounge, particularly the prime rib dinners it used to serve for lunch.

"People back then, government people, they would go socialize," said Ross. "They didn't just go out to drink. It was more of a social gathering place." Jarvis said the new lounge will serve typical finger food like nachos while those seeking more substantial dinner fare will be directed to the hotel's restaurant, L'Atitudes.