Silver Dollar Bar changes ownership with a new liquor license

MANDAN, N.D. (KFYR) - After the Mandan City Commission didn’t renew the liquor license for the Silver Dollar Bar for not meeting standards in June 2021, discussion about the bar re-opening has been in the works.

One Mandan resident interested in local real estate wanted to make sure the Silver Dollar Bar didn’t sit abandoned. After the new liquor license was approved this past November, Jason Arenz got started updating it.

“The big thing, probably, was just it’s a great piece of real estate in downtown Mandan and just looking to enhance it,” said Jason Arenz, the new owner.

Some of the improvements he will be making are a fire suppression system, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and more.

“So, obtaining the liquor license, the city approved it subject to certain improvements being made to the building,” said Arenz.

Along with the necessary improvements, Arenz says he will also install new flooring, remove all three existing bars, and make the outside look more presentable.

“In order to get to become an owner of the real estate, it was a full package, so you had to buy the bar with the real estate,” said Arenz.

Owning a bar wasn’t something Arenz says he thought he would ever do, but keeping the history is important to him. That’s why they’re looking to keep a lot of the same features — down to the name — if they can.

“Ultimately, we’d like to preserve the name of the Silver Dollar Bar. There is an individual that has registered with the Secretary of State. So, we don’t really have full access to that,” said Arenz.

With current cold weather and supply shortages, they’re hoping to have the main necessities done in the next couple of months.

Right now, they’re working on the bathrooms and hoping to have a grand opening in the late spring or early summer.

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