Former employees of the downtown bar Rumrunner’s said the business unexpectedly shut its doors for good Sunday.
The unofficial announcement came after political pressure from local law makers who felt that the bar creates too much violence in the downtown area.
Former employees said at the end of the bar's closure Sunday, they were told they would no longer have a job at Rumrunner's.
None of the former employees at Rumrunner's contacted by Channel 2 were willing to go on camera, but they did confirmthe business is closed.
A Facebook posting from a former DJ reads "... ladies and gentlemen... rumrunner's is officially closed... forever... they notified us tonight..."
Another employee wrote "was wonderful working w everyone n all of u definitely left memories w me good r bad doesn't matter! we were all family n love all of you!!"
While many good times were probably had at Rumrunner's, it's the bad times that drew the most attention. The Alcohol and Beverage Control board says Rumrunner’s has had more violations than any other bar in Anchorage, 27 since 2005. At the end of November representative Les Gara voiced concerns about the business, stating the ABC should not renew the liquor license.
“They’ve had violations for serving underage people, for serving drunk people, there are fights outside of Rumrunner's because they serve drunk people," said Gara. "They have had more alcohol violations than any other bar in the state of Alaska and at some point you've got to know when to draw the line.”
Calls to Rumrunner's were not returned Sunday. The exact number of employees without jobs has not been confirmed.
A former employee said the 20th is when those who worked at the bar are supposed to receive their final paycheck.
“Hopefully those folks will end up landing jobs, at least the responsible ones, which is most of them," said Gara.
There are still some unanswered questions about the incident, but what is known is that a number of employees are out of a job just one week before Christmas.
Contact Mallory Peebles
