Watching the Eagle like a hawk

Wondering what’s up with the “Opening Soon” Eagle Hotel that looks a long way from opening in downtown Palmer? The Post was too. 

You may remember the story that our own Melodie Wright broke last year: the owner of Sicily’s Pizza had purchased the space on South Colony Way formerly occupied by the Gold Miner’s Hotel, which closed down in January 2008 due to health and fire code issues.

Melodie never could reach Sicily’s owner, Atli Dobrova. I struck out, too, though a nice lady with a Russian accent passed along lots of messages to another family member, Egzona. 

But based on information from the city it appears that yes, the Eagle Hotel is still under construction and no, the new owner isn’t walking away. 

Apparently it’s taking longer than expected to get the, shall we say, under-maintained building back up to snuff. 

“It’s just an old building,” said Palmer building inspector David Meneses. “It has not had tender loving care. So consequently, if you don’t repair a building and keep it up to date it takes more to get it up to date.”

Atli Dobrova and his company, AD Real Estate LLC, spent $92,500 on building alterations last year. And unlike the prior owners, AD is also current on its borough property taxes. The company paid its tax bills in 2010 and 2011 for $20,203 and $18,629 respectively. The Gold Miner’s owners owed the borough $50,000 in back taxes and owed other people, too. 

The Eagle Hotel building permit gave the building owner 180 days to start work and then as long as work doesn’t discontinue for 180 days the permit remains good, Meneses said. The company is doing general repairs like electrical upgrades and handicapped-accessible improvements, as well as more aesthetic improvements - new paint, new carpet. 

There’s even a very basic Web site - www.eaglehotel.com - that initially makes it look like things are pretty swanky inside until you realize that the room photos are probably stock and at least a little bit of the copy actually describes the Millenium Alaskan Hotel in Anchorage - views of Lake Spenard, fresh seafood at the Flying Machine Restaurant. They're still working out the bugs and probably just wanted a virtual placeholder. 

A company representative stays in touch with Meneses. He’s pretty sure AD Real Estate is just as eager to open as all the pizza-lovers and Palmer boosters who want that off-white elephant in a crucial downtown property thriving again. 

“They’re dumping a lot of money into it and not getting anything back,” Meneses said. 

-- Zaz Hollander

Anatomy of a Gold Miner story

There were lights on at the old Gold Miner hotel recently. Anyone curious enough to take a peek in one of the building's giant windows will see construction debris - corded up drills, levels, pieces of masonry laying around. After almost three years of sitting vacant, of languishing as Palmer's version of the giant tan elephant  on the southern end of downtown, there are signs of life.

So I decided to get the skinny. And I started at Sicily's Pizza, the Anchorage-based chain that houses a buffet off Dimond and recently opened branches in Wasilla and Palmer's Key Bank plaza. My husband is a huge fan and came home carrying a pizza box and a rumor that Sicily's had bought the Gold Miner building and planned to open a buffet there.

Yay! I thought.
Not so, said Palmer Sicily's manager, John Selimi. "We're not going anywhere."
Bummer, I thought. As the mother of a teenage boy, I'm all for buffets. They're the cheapest places to eat out when you're the parent of a human food vaccuum.

But there is truth to the rumor that Sicily's owner, Lee Dubrova, has purchased the building. In my hunt to separate fact from rumor, I had to take a few steps back to review the building's recent history.  According to the Alaska State Fire Marshal's office, the business was initially closed in Jan. of 2008. (Just getting this date required a FOIA request faxed, followed by the one-sentence email from Lloyd McDonnell in the Anchorage office.)

Employees of that office out here were a bit more forthcoming. Mahlon Greene remembered health and fire code violations shutting it down.  Zaz wrote a story for ADN in April, 2009 that the hotel owed more than $100,000 in back taxes to the city.

All of these items contrived to relegate the once bustling Gold Miner to a shell.  Until now.
John Bond said the fire marshal's office is working "closely" with the new owner to make sure the building is up to code prior to opening. What exactly those plans are is still under wraps. Three phone messages for Dubrova left with Sicily's reservation number - all with the same woman-with-a-Russian-accent - resulted in zero return calls. (One would think they wouldn't mind a little positive publicity but alas. Nyet.)

Three phone calls to Sandra Garley, community development director for the city, also resulted in nada.  No idea what happened to the $100K bill.  Evidently, bureaucrats/business owners have higher priorities than answering the questions of a humble resident/pizza patron.

Fortunately, we bloggers have all kinds of free time. :)  If Sicily's ISN'T hosting a buffet there, fingers crossed they're not going for yet another bar. Karaoke or otherwise. So what would you like to see there?  A three story flea market? A bunny boots outlet? Or another community meeting space that'll relieve the crowding at the Palmer depot?  Speculate away!

--Melodie Wright