Inside the shell of Haines’ newest commercial building in early April, above a row of empty coolers, Merrick Bochart is in a scissor lift working on a 30-foot long painted mural. 

She’s putting highlights in the acrylic fur of  a bear that looks out over a panorama of the Upper Lynn Canal. It’s the view someone would take in if they were standing at the top of Geisan/Mount Ripinsky. 

By the time she’s done painting, Bochart estimates she’ll put in about 150 hours of time on this and another mural set to go on the opposite wall. But, she said, it’s the do-over some artists dream of getting. She said she’s learned a lot in the 13 years since she painted the mural this one is replacing on a south-facing wall of the Haines Quick Shop building.  

It’s one of the last things to go up on the walls of the  new building before the shelves are filled and the store opens – owner Mike Ward hopes – by the end of April. 

After it burned down in late 2024, Ward has been pushing to get the commercial complex rebuilt.  Now, he’s somewhat anxious to see it reopen. 

“Between Christmas and New Years, I found out I’m losing out on $2 million [in insurance payouts from the fire],” he said. “I want to get this open because I want the cash flow.” 

But, as he walked through the newly built space in early April, he rattled off a list of all the things that still need to happen.  A point-of-sale system due at mid-month, will sit atop counters that are still being built. A wall nearby waits for t-shirts and merchandise to be hung.  

And then there’s the matter of filling the new building with stock; it’s much larger than the old one and there are rows and rows of empty shelves. 

“I bought $24,000 worth of booze. Came here and put it on the shelves and was like ‘Oh my god, I didn’t even hardly dent it,” he said. 

The inside is structured differently as well. The old building had a row of apartments at the top and contained Haines Quick Shop, Outfitter Liquor, Outfitter Sporting Goods and Mike’s Bikes & Boards. 

At least nine people were living in those apartments when the building burned down in a late night fire that started on Oct. 5.  At first, local officials suspected that it had been an intentional fire and that, coupled with the size of the commercial loss, estimated at $3.5 million, triggered a deputy fire marshall to travel from Fairbanks and investigate. 

He wasn’t able to determine an exact cause, and eventually classified it as undetermined, according to his report. 

But, one thing that was clear is that the fire started in the back bedroom of one of the apartments. And at this point, Ward said, he’s gotten out of the residential rental business and the new building is strictly a commercial space. Gone too is the bike and board shop, though he said the sporting goods shop will likely have a few longboards and some supplies.

But there’s a lot of stock to replace: guns, ammunition, fishing gear, outdoor supplies and groceries.  A lot of stock from Caroline’s Closet, which has been a convenience store back up on Main Street still has to be moved over. And, there are some new things. 

In a far corner of the sporting goods shop, a pile of furniture waits to be stripped of packing material and catalogued. Cowhide rugs sit in a box along a nearly empty row of shelves. 

“We’ve got a bunch of weird little new vendors,” Ward said. 

And, in addition to Bochart’s murals – she plans to paint a second on north-facing wall of the building, there’s other artistic touches to put up. Ward points to a metal slat wall, painted like an American Flag, waiting to be unpacked from boxes and hung on the wall overlooking the sport shop. 

He also has plans to replace some of the more than a dozen hunting trophies that burned in the fire. He said he has thousands of dollars worth of fiberglass fish on order. A few locals have volunteered their bear trophies for display, including a brown bear that was taken by John Katzeek and another from Ron Martin. He also has a collection of animals that were hunted in Africa, and plans for a spot for them overlooking the sports shop. 

And, inside one of the coolers on a pair of sawhorses, the distinct wooden statue colloquially known as the “angry salmon” to some locally. It, along with an eagle that stood on the roof of the old store for years will go back up too, just in time for tourism season. 

Though, Ward said, he relies more on local customers. 

“The community is the backbone of the business. The summertime is the icing. The locals are the cake,” he said.