You might have noticed some work going on inside the Red Stag, but when the Bent Street business reopens, it will no longer be a bar. 

The Red Stag closed last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was put up for sale shortly after. 

John Newton purchased the establishment in December with the intention of opening a new bar; the Powell City Council agreed to transfer the Red Stag’s retail liquor license to Newton’s company on Dec. 21.

“This was going to be my retirement job,” Newton said.

Then he got a closer look at the work it would require before he could open the doors, and he started to reconfigure his plans. The lights didn’t work. There was mold, water leaks and rotted-out baseboards. 

“I’d have to rebuild it as a bar, and I don’t want a bar that bad,” Newton said. 

Instead, he’s going to renovate it to become new offices for Alpine Medical, a business he owns that currently has an office about a block to the north. The business sells durable medical equipment and homecare supplies, which include orthopedic bracing, knee scooters, shower chairs, crutches, wheelchairs, and walkers. 

Newton said it’s a niche market and the items can be purchased online, but Alpine Medical will go into customers’ homes to make sure they get the right products to suit their needs.

“We’re here to talk to,” Newton said. 

Alpine Medical is also a Wyoming-based small business. It started out in Cody a few years ago, and Newton — along with his wife Bonnie — opened outlets in Powell and Worland. 

He said the square footage in the former Red Stag building offers more space than he currently needs for Alpine Medical, but the business has been growing.

Newton said he’s in no rush to finish the new office space, so he doesn’t have a move-in date. 

“It’ll get done when it gets done,” he said. 

As for the liquor license, Newton said he’s in talks to transfer it to an interested party.

“We’re not going to sit on it,” he said.