Destroyed by fire, the most famous Mexican restaurant above the Arctic Circle likely won't be rebuilt, but the nation's northernmost city will get a new Top of the World Hotel that will be Barrow's largest ever.
The iconic Pepe's North of the Border burned down in an Aug. 31 fire that also caused heavy smoke damage to the adjacent Top of the World Hotel.
That old hotel won't reopen. But the new one, located near the Barrow Post Office, was already under construction at the time of the fire. It's set for an April 22 ribbon-cutting ceremony beginning at 1 p.m., along with a public reception, said a statement from Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which owns the hotel and Tundra Tours Inc., which will operate out of the building.
The hotel will have 70 guest rooms, about twice as many as the old one, said Ty Hardt, a spokesman with ASRC. It will also have three conference rooms, a fitness area, gift shop, wi-fi, cable and free local calls.
The hotel will be the largest ever in Barrow by far, said Mike Shults. Shults is the son of Fran Tate, the well-known longtime owner of the iconic restaurant.
Tate had ambitions to reopen Pepe's after it burned, he said. But at 84, she's spent months suffering from severe health issues related to diabetes, said Shults. Because of that, he doesn't expect Pepe's to reopen.
His mother is at Providence Transitional Care Center in Anchorage after losing her right leg. But she still takes visitors and guests.
"She's always been active and she loves it when people visit," he said. "She's in room 178."
Contact Alex DeMarban at alex(at)alaskadispatch.com.