OLCC pulls Prineville saloon’s liquor license due to fights

The Horseshoe Saloon in Prineville, a decades-old mainstay on Main Street, is surrendering its liquor license due to what state regulators on Thursday called “a history of serious and persistent problems,” including numerous fights.

But new owners said they plan to finalize purchase of the place in the next few weeks and promise to spruce it up a bit but also keep it a place for cowboys — not “yuppies.”

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission at a meeting Thursday ratified surrender of the full on-premises sales license for the saloon, which will receive a letter of reprimand for four violations.

One is a “history of serious and persistent problems” — 50 documented incidents, 28 of which involve violence, such as fights, disorderly conduct and assaults.

The other violations included serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, permitting self-service of alcohol and permitting consumption of alcohol between the hours of 2:30 and 7 a.m.

The licensee is Cooler Bar LLC, with Robert Durkee and Larry Goodman as members.

The OLCC also said one server will receive a letter of reprimand for serving a visibly intoxicated person while working at the saloon.

A call to the establishment’s manager was not immediately returned.

Next week’s Prineville City Council agenda includes a change in ownership of what the intended new owners said will be slightly renamed, the Horseshoe Tavern, since the other name is taken.

Christina Powell and fiancee Cody Suing of Triangle C Investments, owners of the Sons of Beer on Third Street, said the deal for the Horseshoe should be completedby the end of January.

“It’s an old building — 1941, 1945,” Powell said. “It’s been a saloon or tavern its whole life. It’s just been kind of neglected.”

While the Sons of Beer is also undergoing its own expansion, the planned owners of the Horseshoe said they won’t make any big changes there.

In a Facebook post this week, entitled “RUMOR CONTROL!” Powell said, “We are not changing it to a yuppie bar. We are going to clean it up and change a few little things, nothing major! And we are not firing all the employees. … We realize the Shoe is the Shoe!”

Suing said Thursday, “It won’t be a yuppie bar. It’ll still be a cowboy dive bar — it’ll just be clean.”