Demolition begins on vintage casino
A machine operated by Keith Johnson of R. Smith Excavating of Lakeside cuts through a wall of the Sawbuck Saloon and Casino building on Wednesday morning. The building is being razed to make room for a Montana Club restaurant and casino.
Sawbuck Saloon and Casino runner LeeAnn Quinby, right, leans on Karen Morton, a former Pancho Magoo’s waitress, as they watch the building being torn down Wednesday. In the back is Phil Helean, who had been the Sawbuck manager.
Demolition of Sawbuck Saloon and Casino in Kalispell to make way for a Montana Club restaurant and casino began Wednesday.
The building at the south end of town on U.S. 93 was constructed more than 50 years ago and enjoyed incarnations as the Skylark, the Hindquarter and Pancho Magoo, becoming Sawbuck in 1998.
The leveling of Sawbuck will make way for a Montana Club restaurant and casino.
Bob Powell, who owns two Montana Club restaurants in Missoula and one in Butte with Nick Alonzo, said that the planned 8,000-square-foot Kalispell establishment will open next June.
"We're tearing the whole thing down," Powell said of the Sawbuck building. "We've done enough remodeling."
Powell is employing a Missoula-based contractor but said all of the subcontractors are from the Kalispell area.
When built, the casino, which will be separate from the restaurant, will have 20 gaming machines. The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Powell said the new Montana Club will employ about 75 people.