The Fairview Inn is one of Downtown Talkeetna’s most iconic landmarks. Not only is it the tallest building on Main Street, a status enshrined in borough code, but its ninety-nine years as Talkeetna’s living room mean that almost everyone who lives here has a story or ten about it.
The Fairview has been on the market for years, but the price tag and challenge of maintaining a century-old structure meant that it would take just the right buyer, or buyers, to take over the historic bar.
Henrik Wessel and his business partner, Hans Axelsson, believe they are the right people for the job. Earlier this year, they purchased the Fairview, and have been at work renovating it ever since. Wessel says he first set foot in the Fairview in 1992 after attempting to climb Denali.
“And I immediately fell in love with this place. And I came back two more times, in ’93 and ’94. I never made it to the summit, but I did end up at the Fairview.”
Wessel says the building’s age means there’s often more to fix than what’s visible at surface-level.
“If we take out something, we see behind there are two new problems, but, you know, they’re all fixable. It’s been a fun project…and I love fixing things….”
Someone walking into the Fairview after being away for a few years may not notice much different. The walls are still covered in portraits of community members who have passed on, and Curt Wagner’s mural of a grizzly bear gazing at the Alaska Range still covers the wall behind the bar. Wessel says there is a lot of work that has gone into things that customers won’t regularly see.
“It’s an ongoing project, and it’ll probably take years. But I feel we have done some things that make it immediately a little bit safer and also a little bit easier for the people working in the bar.”
Some of those behind-the-scenes upgrades include electrical work, a new draft beer system, and replacing the old wood stove with a fuel oil heater.
Another factor in renovating the Fairview Inn is its status on the National Register of Historic Places. Staying on the register means some fairly restrictive rules when it comes to updating the exterior of the building, but Wessel believes it’s worth it.
“The windows will have to be in wood. You could put in a double-pane, but the frames, everything has look exactly the same. And that’s what we want. We don’t want to change the looks of the building. We want to keep it historic. I think that’s what really attracts people to this place.”
While Wessel says the costs are often high to play by the historic rules, including potentially $6,000 per custom double-paned window, he is determined to make the building more energy efficient in the future.
For Wessel, another key aspect of the Fairview’s identity is live music. He believes that’s especially important right now.
“In this world right now, with a very divided nation, I think one thing that brings people together is music, and I’ve always come to listen to music at the Fairview.”
The music scene at the Fairview is alive and well. Over the 4th of July weekend, multiple bands performed, including local favorites the Denali Cooks.
Wessel says the difficult, and expensive work of renovating the Fairview has been made easier by the support the new owners have received from the community, and he says plans are in the works for the bar’s hundredth anniversary next year.
