The Wapiti Lodge will soon be under new ownership.

Earlier this month, the Park County Commission helped clear the way for the sale, agreeing to transfer the lodge’s liquor license to Kyle Limited Company, an LLC owned by Beth and Kenyon Kyle of Bonita Springs, Florida. The Kyles said in their application that they plan to operate both a bar and package store. They’re buying the property from Nicholas Rand Green, who owned it through an LLC called 4Gs Wapiti Ranch.

The lodge is a Wapiti fixture, established back in 1904 and sitting prominently along U.S. Highway 14/16/20. The business’ website lays out its history as a gas station, a general store, a home to the Wapiti Post Office (from 1938 to 2010) and as a place for relaxation along the North Fork of the Shoshone River.

Beyond offering cabins and suites, the Wapiti Lodge includes the Seven Saloon, which offers food and drinks. The lodge’s website says the establishment is believed “to be the first establishment to hold a license to sell beer after Prohibition was repealed.”

Today, it’s one of 21 facilities that hold retail liquor licenses in rural Park County.

At the Oct. 6 Park County Commission meeting, First Deputy Clerk Hans Odde said the sale to the Kyles is tentatively set to close in the first part of November. Given the recent flurry of real estate activity, the parties have been having trouble getting an appraisal completed, he said, but everything else is in place.

“This is really simple and straightforward,” Odde said.

Commissioners unanimously approved transferring the lodge’s liquor license to Kyle Limited Company. The county’s annual $800 fee will be prorated from the point at which the license is issued.