The year was 1945. O.M. Nagl walked into a bar in Estes Park and sat down for a drink. The owner of the establishment was disgruntled. He had just thrown out a customer after a dispute over people missing the spittoon on the floor.
The owner said “If I could find some dumb *** to buy this place, I swear to God, I’d sell it.”
Courtesy photo, Wheel Bar
A malted beverage license from the state of Colorado in 1948.O.M. Nagl took him up on the offer. Now, 75 years and three generations later, grandson Ty Nagl owns the bar.
“The Wheel Bar is kind of considered an institution,” Nagl said. “If you look around, it’s almost a museum inside with all of the things we’ve collected over time.”
Located at 132 E. Elkhorn Ave. in the heart of downtown Estes Park, the Wheel Bar has seen horses tied out front and Model As chugging down dirt streets.
Wendy Rigby, Estes Park Trail-Gazette
A wheel mounted on the ceiling of the Wheel Bar bears the names of people who helped celebrate the establishment’s 25th anniversary.“There is not a better place to sip craft whiskey or a microbrew than the Wheel Bar,” Nagl commented. “You cannot imagine what the mirrors behind the bar have seen.”
Nagl’s grandfather originally called the establishment Mike’s Pool Hall which featured billiards and beer. When the bar got a license to sell hard alcohol, the owners decided to switch to a new name.
They ran a contest in the newspaper and people send in scores of ideas. The winning name was the Wheel Bar since it was “the social hub of town,” as Nagl puts it. “I think we’ve remained that for many locals.”
Through the years, the Wheel Bar has supported local events, starting the Duck Race that was eventually taken over by the Rotary Club. The Wheel Bar also hosts the largest amateur golf tournament in the state with hundreds of participants, a sporting event that has been around for 56 years, longer than the Super Bowl.
“A bar is just four walls with some whiskey,” Nagl stated, “but what makes the Wheel Bar different is the people who come here and the people who work here. Our employees are fast and efficient but friendly. I hire people who have a great personality.”
Nagl said the busiest times for the bar are the months of September and October, though they welcome tourists and locals year-round.
The Wheel Bar even hosts weddings, receptions, rehearsal dinners and after parties.
“Not much has changed over the past 75 years,” Nagl noted. “We like to keep it the way it is. People like it the way it is. “Many businesses are about newer, better, bigger, fancier. The truth is, the Wheel Bar sort of stays the same.”
The Link LonkJuly 30, 2020 at 01:07AM
https://www.eptrail.com/2020/07/29/inside-business-the-wheel-bar-keeps-rolling/
Inside Business: The Wheel Bar keeps rolling - Estes Park Trail-Gazette
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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