Steve Wahrlich

The Powell City Council has approved an extension for the liquor license that the planned Clocktower Inn of Powell has not yet used.

Steve Wahrlich, the hotelier working in partnership with the City of Powell to develop the Clocktower Inn and conference center, requested a year-long extension on the hotel’s dormant liquor license on Monday. The city permits a liquor license holder to leave a license unused for one year, but after that, the holder must request an extension.

The council approved the request on a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Tim Sapp opposing the motion.

The hotel and conference center was expected to break ground over the summer. However, according to Powell Economic Partnership Executive Director Christine Bekes, the timeline has now moved to a summer 2020 groundbreaking.

Wahrlich explained to the council that the Powell project went to the backburner after he learned in April that the owners of Stella’s Kitchen and Bakery were retiring. The restaurant is located in the middle of Wahrlich’s Best Western Plus Clocktower Inn in Billings; in a letter to the council, Wahrlich said it was determined to be in the best interest of the Billings hotel to acquire and operate the restaurant, rather than find new tenants. The venture was so time-consuming, Wahrlich said he hasn’t been able to give the Clocktower Inn of Powell his full attention.

“It came as a surprise, the amount of work I had to do on it,” he told the council at Monday’s meeting.

Councilors awarded the city’s final retail liquor license to the Clocktower Inn of Powell in December 2018. It was a split, 4-2 vote, as owners of the Lovell-based gym Club Dauntless also applied for the license. In addition to a new Powell gym they were planning, owners Stacy and Devin Bair wanted to build a golf simulator and sports bar.

However, the city awarded the license to Wahrlich, in part over concerns of jeopardizing the nearly $10 million Clocktower Inn project; the conference center is set to be funded with a $2.62 million grant from the state government, with the connected 70- to 80-room hotel paid for with private dollars.

The construction of Club Dauntless, meanwhile, moved forward without the golf simulator and bar and the gym is expected to open before the end of the year.

As part of a separate process, Wahrlich has also applied for the license renewal. All liquor license renewals in Powell come up in November, regardless of when the holder took possession during the year. A public hearing on the renewal will be held during the regular Nov. 18 council meeting.