The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control officially closed the National Hotel in Jackson yesterday morning, perhaps indefinitely.

The closure came after several violations of ABC policies recorded in March 2008, including the sale of alcohol to a decoy minor and a violation of the hotel's operating license, which calls for it to serve food. The premises also had adulterated bottles of alcohol, the ABC said in a release.

The suspension of the hotel's liquor license would last no fewer than 20 days, but could be in effect permanently for the current owners, according to an ABC official who spoke with the Ledger Dispatch last week.

The National Hotel currently has a Type 47 liquor license, which means it must have a full restaurant to serve alcohol. ABC investigators discovered the kitchen had been closed, a violation of the license.

"A 20-day to indefinite suspension means that the National Hotel in Jackson has 20 days to start a restaurant, in full compliance with the California Health Department, or apply to exchange their license for a public premises license," said Lori Ajax, ABC Sacramento district administrator.

The agency also posted a suspension notice at a Sacramento business Thursday.

On Tuesday, the National's marketing consultant, Thom Walker, addressed the closure, as well as the Feb. 20 Ledger Dispatch story that broke the news, on the paper's online forum, the Red Phone.

Posting as ENG #1, Inc., which is the hotel's corporate moniker, Walker downplayed the controversy over the hotel's attempt to stay open by renting out rooms to homeless residents of Oakland.

"The intention was not to turn the hotel into a shelter as such," he wrote. "Rooms have always been available for local churches and, I believe, the Salvation Army, when they have been in need. This has been going on for decades. They rent the rooms and pay just as anyone would."

In an e-mail confirming the posting's authenticity to the Ledger Dispatch, Walker said Wednesday that his and owner Bill Smith's preference was to sell the hotel, but that a unique relationship with an East Bay church organization could mean renting a portion of the hotel's 25 rooms at a discount to Oakland homeless in exchange for fixing up the place. That idea hasn't gone much further than initial talks, Walker said. An offer was also extended to the Amador County Historical Society to use the hotel's downstairs as a temporary annex for the closed county museum, he added.

Current society president Larry Cenotto said he wasn't aware of any such overture in the six months since rejoining the organization, but called it "an interesting idea" the group might pursue.

In his Red Phone posting, Walker said the hotel's dining facility would not be reopened and that rooms would remain unavailable to tourists during the bar's closure. Finding a buyer for the hotel, which has long been on sale, has also proven difficult, he added.

The possibility of homeless taking up residence at the hotel ignited concerns from surrounding businesses and worries that the hotel's owners intended to move into the shelter business. City officials noted there would be a prolonged, difficult regulatory path to accomplish such a venture, but Walker maintained there was never any intent to morph the historic hotel into a full-fledged homeless shelter.

After the Feb. 20 story, Walker said he was contacted by two television stations interested in doing stories.