Our Projects

MPA Announces 2010
Historic Preservation Excellence Awards

MPA announced the recipients of this year's Historic Preservation Excellence Awards on September 29th to an enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd at the Montana Club in Helena. Each year, MPA takes great pleasure in celebrating individuals who have gone above and beyond to save and protect Montana’s special historic buildings and places. Not only do we applaud good stewards and advocates for heritage properties, we also promote the importance of historic preservation as a tool for economic development, community vitality, and increased tourism.

This year, we honored six outstanding projects that span a wide array of preservation initiatives. Those people and groups honored stand tall among Montana’s keepers of history, those whose passion for place, community, and architecture leads their vision and sustains their work. By honoring their achievements, we hope to inspire others and encourage a host of new preservation projects.

And the honorees are . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding Community Preservation Project
The Friends of St. Wenceslaus, Danvers, MT
Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Domier Painting, and
Lowes of Helena for their efforts to restore St. Wenceslaus Church

These groups collaborated to preserve the St. Wenceslaus Church in Danvers after it was decommissioned, and endeavored to not only secure its future, but also to repair and stabilize the building for use as a community heritage center.  Cousins Peggy Barta and Gary Barta, former residents of Danvers, spearheaded the effort, and created the Friends of St. Wenceslaus. The Friends group conversed with the Diocese, and Bishop Michael Warfel and Joe Loncki of the Diocese worked hard not only to alleviate the threat of demolition, but also to transfer the property to the Friends. 

The town of Danvers is a one in a chain of small Central Montana town sites, platted along the route of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad from 1912-1914. A Czech immigrant from Grafton, North Dakota named Louis Houska built the community’s first store in 1912 and settlers soon followed, including a high concentration of Czech settlers. According to Peggy Barta, these families had stayed together when they immigrated and had been in the Midwest until homestead lands opened up in Montana after 1910.

Early Danvers residents held Catholic services in the local school, private homes and the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad depot, including, in May of 1912, a triple wedding for three brothers – Frank, Anton & Joseph Barta – and their brides in the schoolhouse. In 1916, building a proper church building became a priority, and the congregation raised funds in the community and built the church for $2650, on land donated by the railroad. The families pitched in to complete the interior and basement excavation work.

Priests from nearby parishes held Mass at Danvers once a month, often riding the train from Geraldine and other towns to get there.  On other Sundays and holy days a member of the congregation led prayer meetings.  Through the years, the church at Danvers was under the umbrella of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. And, until it was retired from service about the year 2000, the church was a chapel of occasional worship served by St. Leo’s parish in Lewistown.

By 2006, the church was in need of some major repairs and descendants of Danvers residents were concerned about the future of the church. After many meetings between the Friends Group, MPA and the Diocese, St. Wenceslaus was transferred from the Diocese to the Friends. This past summer, central Montana residents witnessed a humbling transformation of the church. Rob Domier, a Danvers descendant and professional painter in Helena, volunteered to scrape and paint the exterior, along with his father Richard, and crew member Stacey Bakke. Domier also worked to secure a donation of paint from the Helena Lowe’s Building Supply store. Jason Scribner, the Valspar paint representative for Lowes, donated fifty gallons of quality paint to the cause.  Then in August, a large group of devoted helpers convened at the church to clean and make repairs. Today, the church is beaming and proud with its new coat of bright white paint.

The work will continue. MPA has helped the Friends secure grant funds from Humanities Montana, the Montana Community Foundation, JM Kaplan Fund, and the Jerry Metcalf Foundation to replace the roof and make needed repairs to the foundation. In addition, St. Wenceslaus Church will hold the first in a series a digital history archives to be created by MPA across the state. We take great pleasure in honoring the Barta family and all Friends of St. Wenceslaus, the Reverend Bishop Warfel and Joe Loncki of the Diocese, Rob and Richard Domier and Stacey Bakke, Jason Scribner and Lowes for their outstanding efforts to restore this amazing prairie church.

Outstanding Commercial Preservation Project
Joni and Steve Harman and High Plains Architects for Rehabilitation of the Swift Building Lofts, Billings

 

 

 

 

Owners, Joni and Steve Harman worked with High Plains Architects of Billings to rehabilitate a vacant historic refrigerated warehouse into high-performance, loft-style apartments. This brick and heavy timber frame building was constructed in 1916 by Swift & Company and is located within a large warehouse district along the railroad tracks in Billings. When Swift & Company built the building, it was one of the largest meat processing and shipping businesses in the United States.
Nine decades later, the building sat abandoned and neglected on the edge of the Old Town Historic District. The architects’ task was to transform this 12,000 sq. ft. building into nine high-performance living units, maintaining the building’s historic integrity while integrating sustainable design features.

The design blends historic restoration, contemporary urban interiors, and cutting edge green building technologies and met two sets of rigorous, demanding design standards: The building is LEED® for Homes Platinum certified for sustainable design, and is a Certified Historic Tax Credit Rehabilitation historic preservation project.

The building retains its original walk-in cooler doors, bead board wall finishes, and exposed heavy timbers, along with salvaged items including interior doors, re-lites hard maple flooring, douglas fir baseboard and counters. Green interior finishes include polished concrete floor, wheatboard cabinets, recycled glass tile countertops, low VOC paints and transparent finishes.  Together, these features reduce energy use by more than 55% compared to new construction; the building also uses 38% less water through captured rainwater and highly efficient plumbing. The Swift Building Lofts rehabilitation disproves the misconception that green building involves greater up-front costs -- the owners save 28% in upfront costs by renovating the historic building to LEED Platinum standards compared to demolishing it and constructing a new building.

Pete Brown of the Montana State Historic Preservation Office who worked with High Plains and also nominated this property for this award said, “When the Harmans and their team of designers and builders set out to rehabilitate the Swift Building they had a common goal of making an ignored industrial building contribute culturally, aesthetically, and environmentally.  Using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and LEED criteria, they retained and repaired architectural features to the maximum extent, and replaced in-kind only those features missing or beyond feasible repair.  Consequently, the Swift retains its historic identity, but as an energy-conserving, residential building it is probably more meaningful to its community now than it ever was historically.” 

Renovation of the Swift Building has revitalized a blighted edge of downtown Billings, spawning interest renovation of nearby buildings. The renaissance of this area, once unimaginable to many, is now well underway due in part to the pioneering spirit of the Harmans and High Plains Architects.

Outstanding Community Preservation Project
Sanders CountyCommissioners and High Bridge Steering Committee for Thompson Falls High Bridge Restoration

MPA honored members of the Sanders County Commission and the High Bridge Steering Committee for their outstanding efforts to restore the Thompson Falls High Bridge. This project is a prime example of the way partnerships, good public communication, and perseverance accomplished a major community improvement project.

The High Bridge, located on the south side of Island Park in Thompson Falls, was built in 1911 and closed in the 1970's because of safety concerns. It was used as a foot bridge until 1979 and then closed permanently due to deterioration. The bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its role in the development and prosperity of Thomson Falls and Sanders County. Not only that, the bridge is a rare structure in Montana, as one of only a few high bridges remaining in the state.

By 2005 the bridge was not in good shape and many called for it to be demolished and sold for scrap. Thankfully, a group of local county commissioners and preservationists saw the bridge as an asset, and gathered to save the bridge.

In 2006, the County Commissioners had a rough estimate of $600,000 to $800,000 for the bridge renovation, from Morrison-Maierle, Inc., their engineers on a consultant contract. Renovation of the bridge had been a long time priority for the county, and by 2007 they had already earmarked $550,000 of their federal community transportation enhancement funds for the bridge renovation.

In 2006, the county appointed a committee to oversee renovation of the bridge. The committee researched the bridge’s history, brainstormed pros and cons, conducted county-wide public opinion surveys, held a public input meeting, and looked into additional funding sources.  The support was overwhelming from the residents returning their surveys and from those attending the public meeting.  With that, the committee began applying for grants.  The County was awarded a National Trust for Historic Preservation Johanna Favrot grant for $5,000 to do structural testing.  They also received a Recreation Trails Program grant from Fish, Wildlife & Parks for $21,268 and a Montana Arts Council, Cultural and Aesthetics grant for $11,000.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided another $187,000.  The Montana Congressional delegates secured $292,000 in appropriation funds, and the local community raised close to $35,000 with a campaign slogan of “Bridge The Gap.” 

And, Bridge the Gap is exactly what they did. The renovation was completed in the winter of 2009-10.  Ribbon cutting and grand re-opening was held May 8, 2010.

Katy Walton, a member of the Steering Committee wrote in a recent article, “Preserving this historic piece of the area’s heritage and unique structural architecture would have been a worthy endeavor alone.  But this bridge also reconnects the community (residents from both sides of the river), reopens a direct transportation link into the Island Park, town services and schools, attracts visitors, creates a sense of place, augments recreational opportunities for biking, walking, wild-life viewing, fishing, photography, etc., provides an emergency access and evacuation route, and enhances the aesthetic beauty of its pristine surroundings.”  

For this we honor Sanders County Commissioners and the High Bridge Steering Committee for all their amazing efforts. Their enthusiasm and professionalism in saving this bridge is a model for others to follow.

 
Outstanding Federal Preservation Project
Friends of Upper Rock Creek Historic District and LoloNational Forest, Missoula Ranger District for restoration of Morgan-Case homestead, Hogback and Rock Creek cabins

For many years, the homestead cabins along Rock Creek on the Lolo National Forest stood abandoned and deteriorating. The two-story Hogback cabin at the confluence of Hogback and Rock Creeks, the National Register-listed Morgan-Case homestead, and the Rock Creek Cabin all have significant history to convey, and remarkable log architecture. By the early 1990s, the Morgan-Case Homestead and the Hogback cabin suffered serious deferred maintenance. The Rock Creek cabin suffered a bit less, but was still in need of some major TLC.

Recognizing the need to both be good stewards of their cultural resources and meet the demand for cabin rentals in the National Forest, Lolo National Forest Missoula Ranger district employees, the Forest Service preservation team, Passport-in-Time volunteers, and the Friends of Upper Rock Creek Historic District began to work together to restore and reuse these heritage buildings. Lolo Forest employees Paul Matter, Gene Thompson, and Al Hilshey lead the effort to partner with other agencies and organizations, and a series of work weeks spanning over a decade has brought these cabins back into use, and they are so popular that the Forest Service implemented a lottery system to reserve them.

The sweat equity of volunteers from all over the U.S. including California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington completed much of the thoughtful restoration efforts. Work included painstaking and accurate restoration of the roofs, foundations, and windows, as well as refurbishing the interiors.  The Morgan-Case homestead house is now fully restored, but enthusiasm for the property has continued to other outbuildings. The root cellar roof was recently restored and is now the best looking root cellar in the state, and the restoration of the bunkhouse is now underway. It is such a pleasure to see these humble yet elegant log structures so well taken care of and put to such good use. MPA is pleased to honor the Missoula Ranger District and Friends of Upper Rock Creek HD for their outstanding efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding Preservation Leadership
Anne Hedges, Montana Environmental InformationCenter for Championing Preservation of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark

Anne Hedges, Program Director for the MEIC, has been the single-most effective advocate in the effort to stop construction of a coal-fired power plant and ensuing industrial developments on the Lewis & Clark/Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark (NHL). 200 years after Lewis & Clarks Corp of Discovery spent 18 days on foot to portage the Great Falls of the Missouri, the landscape surrounding the Great Falls had remained largely undeveloped. But plans by the Southern Montana Electric Coop to build a power plant within the Lewis & Clark landmark distrct would seriously marr the pristine viewshed and historic significance in the district.

Since the issue arose in 2006, Anne Hedges has always understood that preserving the environment also includes threatened heritage resources and that the value of this prominent Lewis & Clark landmark to Montana and the nation is incalculable. Through years of public hearings, meetings and legal challenges, she actively championed the preservation of the NHL in addition to the environmental issues at hand. It was Anne’s undaunted leadership in large measure that led to an August 2010 settlement – resulting in a much smaller gas-powered plant built outside NHL boundaries with open space, visual, and auditory considerations and protections for the 240 acres owned by Southern Montana Electric within the NHL boundaries.  Once envisioned as a wind farm, that land will now be conserved in perpetuity. Such a victory would not have been possible without Anne’s tireless efforts; her commitment to preserving the landmark was intrinsic to staving off the threat and we take great satisfaction in honoring her tonight. 

 

Outstanding Residential Preservation Project
Alex Sirr for Restoration of Sirr House, near Gardiner
Homeowners Alex and Beth Sirr bought the dilapidated Jones House near Gardiner in 1993 and spent the next 13 years transforming it into a functioning modern home, while maintaining its wonderful rustic character.

The house was built in 1907 for the Jones family, Austrian immigrants to the Gardiner area. Many families lived in the house between 1907 and 1993, but the property had always remained  agricultural. Over the years, Alex, an emergency room doctor, would spend 4 or 5 days at a time working on the house. He had no particular carpentry training, but had a love of working with wood and old buildings, and found it to be a relaxing departure from his stressful job. Alex did all of the work himself, except for installation of the ceramic tile wood stove. Work included a new roof, removing and replacing over a mile of chinking, new plumbing and electrical, removing layers of wall material to expose the interior log walls, installation of new energy efficient windows, and much, much more.

Two-story log houses are a rarity and it is a pleasure to see the Sirr House back in use and well cared for. Sirr’s thoughtful efforts are an inspiration to historic homeowners across the state.