Crowley Block in Lewistown recognized as an outstanding rehabilitation project
On May 16, Montana Historical Society and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) recognized the owners of the Crowley Block for Outstanding Historic Preservation Stewardship. Built in 1913 in Classical Revival architectural style, the Crowley building in Lewistown hosted several businesses until it was vacated in 2016. One Health acquired the block in 2019 to expand its medical and behavioral health services, and partnered with Missoula-based Homeword, Inc. to offer affordable housing on the upper floors. One Health’s clinic opened in August 2022, creating 20 full-time jobs. All apartments on the upper floors are occupied.
Dion Block in Glendive receives Governor’s Award
Constructed in 1905 and renovated in 1929, the Dion Block in Glendive was a vital commercial space for much of the 20th century. On May 16, Kevin and Angela McPherson McPhersons received the Governor’s Award for an Outstanding Historic Preservation Project. Since acquiring property in 2017, the McPhersons and have invested more than $1.5 million in grants, private funds, and sweat equity with assistance from USDA-REAP, SHPO, Dept. of Commerce, and Federal and State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
Curtis Music Hall, Uptown Butte
The Curtis Music Hall is one of Uptown Butte’s grandest buildings. This Victorian era time capsule on Park and Main has been a dance hall with live music, boarding house, meeting place, saloon, bakery, restaurant, confectionery, and shoe store.
Baatz Block in Great Falls, Listed!
The Western Commercial style Baatz Block represents a 1910s commercial building associated with a time in Great Falls when multi-story masonry buildings replaced their earlier wood-framed counterparts. The Baatz, which housed a succession of ground floor bars and taverns with hotel rooms above, has a colorful past. It was so notorious that it became a poster child to legislators who invoked Baatz’s owner and his ilk when the 1917 legislature passed a temperance bill into law making Montana a dry state. Fast forward a century, and the Baatz is making a productive contribution to Great Falls and Montana's housing crisis with the help of NeighborWorks Great Falls, HomeWord of Missoula, and Historic Tax Credits. The Baatz will reopen next month offering community services and 25 apartments for otherwise unhoused people. Julie Stiteler prepared this nomination.
Ruffatto School in Richland County, Listed!
In 1910, rancher Mrs. T. T. Armstrong rode several hundred miles on horseback to secure signatures that would establish a school district serving rural communities in a vast area south of the Missouri River. As the population of Richland County grew, the school district was reorganized to include what would become the Ruffatto School in Richland County.
Eave returns
Commonly seen on American architecture of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, the eave return or cornice return serves to aesthetically elevate a building’s façade and to convey a message about the building’s function or perhaps about the people who made their home there.
Notches
Festive, cozy, and nestled in the forest — the log cabin is the architectural epitome of the holiday season. A well-built log cabin stays so cozy throughout the winter due to the watertight and windproof seal created in part by a notching system at the cabin’s corners. In “locking” the logs, notches help make traditional sealing materials of mud, clay, and straw (known as chinking when on the exterior of the cabin and daubing on the interior) more effective.
What’s the difference between shakes and shingles?
Q: What’s the difference between shakes and shingles?
A: It kind of depends on whom you ask
Warehouse Transformed into Commerical Spaces with the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program
Imagine a historic Art Deco school turned into low-income apartments, or a warehouse transformed into commercial spaces for small businesses. Since 1997, the Montana State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has helped to facilitate through the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program the rehabilitation of 81 historic buildings across the state.
Thankful for Historic Theaters (and Theatres)
Montana is home to at least ten historic theaters that are eligible to be listed or are currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
West Fork Ranger Station, Listed!
Ole Tangen, a Norwegian-born master log craftsman, built or supervised the construction of nearly three dozen log buildings throughout the Bitterroot Valley, and several Forest Service and National Register-listed properties. Tangen’s log work remains as an instructive example to modern log builders and preservationists.