KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
This week, locals will celebrate a piece of Kodiak’s wild past. They’ll observe the 25th anniversary of the infamous Beachcombers nightclub.
The Beachcombers has had a number of forms through the years.
It opened in 1957 and reopened a second time after the 1964 earthquake and tsunami wiped out the original building.
Its next form as a nightclub was a stationary boat on the property where the Salvation Army is now.
The Beachcombers became the place to hit on a Friday night, or all weekend, according to Gary LeGrue.
“That was a really big hot spot and everybody went to the Beachcombers. It stayed open until 5 o’clock in the morning, and we’d be packed.”
LeGrue’s family has owned the business since the beginning. In its current form, it’s Henry’s Great Alaskan Restaurant.
The nightclub closed 25 years ago, and LeGrue says it became a strip club for a time soon after.
Local historian and Kodiak Maritime Museum executive director, Toby Sullivan, says the Salvation Army was also running its church on the property.
“The sign very famously out in front said live girls dancing Friday and Saturday night, church services Sunday at 11.”
Sullivan is helping out in the days-long celebration and putting together a poetry reading Friday and Saturday featuring some of the local fisherman-poets.
The reunion and festivities start Thursday and continue through the weekend until Monday. It’ll include music, food, and drink.
