INUVIK
The Mad Trapper bar, colloquially known as "Frosty's," is for sale.

The Mad Trapper, an institution in Inuvik, is up for sale after residents came out in force to oppose its request to city council to be open on Sundays. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

Coldwell Banker in Yellowknife is advertising the property and everything in it for $1.65 million.

This follows several months of controversy in the community surrounding an application by bar-owner Rick Adams to open on Sundays and Good Friday.

When brought to a public meeting by council, the response was overwhelmingly negative. Steve Donley, interim pastor at the First Bible Baptist Church of Inuvik, was one of the first to speak at that meeting on behalf of himself and the congregation.

"They were pretty clearly unified against it," he said last week after hearing the bar is now for sale.

"Anytime there's a reduction in the amount of alcohol, that's a good thing. It's not about economics, it's not about personalities, it's about the decay that alcohol brings to society."

Town council ultimately followed the majority's opinion at the meeting and denied a modified application to open around half the year's Sundays.

Advertised as an "icon almost as old as the town itself," the Trapper is being sold along with fixtures, furniture, equipment, appliances and nine residential units upstairs.

Donley said he hopes a new owner with a new purpose could help bring renewal to the downtown area.

"I hope it's something positive to help the downtown refresh itself," he said, adding a new place to get food would be attractive to locals and tourists alike, while also increasing safety.

"I don't think it's personal towards (the owner) or the Trapper, but there is clearly a movement away from alcohol. People are sick of it."

The Drum reached out to Rick Adams, but he did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

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