Pizza is coming to Main Street as Pilot Light owners Cambria Goodwin and Eric Forster plan to open a new wood-fired pizza restaurant in the former Coliseum Theater building.

“I realized that life is short, if you want to do something, just do it,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said they toured the space last month and decided it was a good venue for a new business venture. The building has been vacant after the Moose Caboose restaurant closed last spring.

“I’ve wanted to have a restaurant in this building since I moved to Haines,” Goodwin said. With the Bamboo Room restaurant as the only sit-down food option downtown, Goodwin said she thought the central location was perfect.

Forster said he and Goodwin wanted to secure the space for the Pilot Light several years ago, but it was occupied. The pair said now, with commercial building owner Chris Thorgesen as their landlord, a new restaurant there would contribute to the revitalization of Main Street.

Forster said they decided on wood-fired pizza after eating pizza at some of the oldest restaurants on a trip to Italy in November.

“You’d sit down, they’d put your pizza in and have it pop out in just a couple minutes. That’s what we want to do,” Forster said. High temperatures up to 1,000 degrees will cook pizzas faster than a traditional oven.

Forester said a new custom-made dome-style wood-fired oven arrived from Napa, California this week and will be installed in the corner of the dining room. Goodwin said they will have an open kitchen so diners can see their food being made.

Goodwin said the restaurant, to be called “Alpenglow,” will be a family-friendly space with benches instead of chairs and open feel.

“We have friends with kids who say they’re uncomfortable bringing their kids with a lot of energy to the Pilot Light where it’s more intimate,” Forster said.

The pair is remodeling the space and plans to open Alpenglow in the spring with a simple menu of pizzas, salads and desserts, including some gluten free pizzas. They said they will manage both the Pilot Light and Alpine Glow this summer.