Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Hay River (Aug 13/01) - One of the most colourful buildings in the history of the North is undergoing some big changes to bring back a piece of history for visitors and residents of Hay River.

The Hay River Hotel -- now more commonly known as the Zoo -- will soon be getting a facelift that will bring hotel the look it had when it first opened over 40 years ago.

The hotel's first resident owner, Garth Mackie, has begun sandblasting the old brown paint from the building's exterior to reveal the panabode cedar logs beneath. Mackie said he bought the building because he wanted to restore a part of Hay River's colourful history.

The hotel was first trucked north in pieces in 1957, by Ron Cross of Calgary's Territorial Hotels. It was later sold to Roy and Pat Kabat, who divorced soon after, awarding Pat custody of the hotel. Mackie says a Calgary lawyer with a serious drinking problem took over from Kabat.

"Apparently, he used to pass-out behind the bar -- sometimes in his robe -- holding a bag of money clutched in his hand," Mackie said.

In the early 1990s, the hotel went into receivership, and Mackie first thought about buying the hotel.

"At the time, they just wanted too much money," he said, adding that the hotel was then bought by Yellowknife's Tony Chang and Alex Archuck.

When Chang and Archuck owned the place, Mackie said the resident managers held an unauthorized "renovation sale."

"They had beds, TVs, chairs -- anything you could think of from the hotel and bar -- all lined up on the street out front," Mackie said. "They sold all they could for next-to-nothing and that Saturday night, they loaded-up whatever booze was left into a truck and headed south."

The hotel closed and remained that way until Mackie bought it in 1998.

"I saw a building that was boarded-up and the windows were smashed out of it, but I knew the history of this place and I thought it was a shame to see it deteriorating like that," he said.

The hotel had been trashed by seven young youths and Mackie said it took them three months to clean up the place.

"I could see through all the mess and really figured I could do something with the place," he said.

The hotel has had itOs share of colourful stories held beneath her walls, but non quite as famous as the night the man who runs the country got into fisticuffs with one of the locals.

"Back in the 60s, Jean Chretien -- who was then Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs -- was staying in the building and he apparently he got into an argument with Rudy Stiener," Mackie recalled.

"Chretien said something to him like , 'Well nobody asked you to live here...'" he said. "At that point, Rudy jumped him and I believe it was Jerry Eyford and Robinson who pulled him off of Chretien."

Vale Island resident of over 30 years, Dave Johnson, recalls some other tales from the Zoo, like when Fuzzy Colburn rode his horse into the bar.

"He said his horse was thirsty," Johnson laughed. "The horse got all spooked and spilled over about six tables, before they finally got him out."

And there was the day that two-wheeled trouble came to town.

"Two guys rode their dirt bikes in one time -- they went in the front door and out the back," he recalled. "They were wearing black masks over their faces so no one ever found out who they were."

The hotel has been home to rogues and royalty alike, with the governor general and many other visiting dignitaries staying at one point or another.

The Royal Bank, Canada Post and Rings Drug store were all housed under the hotel roof at one point or another.

During the Hay River flood in 1963, the hotel was built high enough that the water never seeped over the sill and although Mackie was the town's newest resident at four-days-old, he says the oldtimers say it was business as usual at the Zoo.

"They actually stayed open for business -- people would tie their boats up outside and come in for a drink," he laughed.

The newest owner is restoring the old building and plans to re-open the restaurant soon, as well as the 43 hotel rooms.

Another new addition to the hotel is a large collection of historic photos of the old town and people who lived here from the 1940s up to the 60s. One wall is dedicated to the fishermen, pictures of the floods from 1954 to 1963.

Mackie says he's saving some space for a collection of archives from the Northern Transportation Company Ltd., who've offered to donate copies of some of their old photos to the Zoo collection.

"We also have the Legends of the Zoo wall,O Mackie said. "The wall is dedicated to many of the colourful patrons who have made this a place they can call their own."

Being out on Vale Island has been a hurdle for the young owner, but he's overcome that by offering a free ride to and home from the Zoo. While the transportation has brought some extra cash through the doors, Mackie feels he's just being a responsible owner with the service.

"We've probably saved the police a lot of paperwork and maybe even a few lives," he said.

With the colourful past of the old place and as the name might imply, Mackie says the Zoo is far from being the rowdy bar people might think of.

"We've had so few incidents in here, that I could count them on one hand," he says. "We want people to be able to come in here for a good time, enjoy some of the history and not have to worry about trouble."