Garden Bar replaces century-old bar floor

Over 100 years worth of snowy boots, spilled drinks and countless dancing patrons had the Garden Bar’s floor worn so thin that it was becoming a liability and had to be replaced.

The Garden Bar’s floor got a facelift during four days of closure two weeks ago, $3,000 worth of flooring and a deep scrubbing.

Dark brown and dingy flooring from the early 1900’s was replaced with tongue-and-groove plywood sub-flooring that was stained and sealed with polyurethane.

The previous flooring had not been replaced since the building was built.

“It’s one of the oldest original buildings in Bigfork,” Mark “Mister” Langlois said.

And the original flooring was getting to be a liability for the Garden Bar.

There were holes in it, it was getting thin, and it absorbed more liquid than it repelled.

“When I would get done mopping, I’d only have half a bucket of water left,” Langlois said.

In addition to laying down the new floor, the bar crew spent 16-hour days cleaning behind photographs, casino machines and kitchen equipment.