HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Officials with Havre Beneath the Streets held a public hearing on Thursday morning in the Hill County Commissioner’s Office in order to discuss their plan to apply for a major grant that could provide funding to rehabilitate the attraction.
“(This) is to reinforce, reconstruct, rehabilitate the area on the west side of the Eagles Club on the vaulted sidewalk that formerly displayed four of our displays: the dentist office, the mercantile building, the post office, and the motor repair service area,” said Beneath the Streets Board Member Jerry Waltari. “Approximately two years ago, we determined with the water coming in through that sidewalk, ruining the stuff, we moved a lot of the stuff out of there. And we were just informed a while back that we need to put some jacks to hold that sidewalk up until we get something finished there … If you’ve been down there, you can see the destructive part that the water has played going through over the years on that particular area. And more imporantly, that was the area that allowed us to finish the tour and had the handicap accessible chairlift their. So at this point, we have no access for handicapped people to see the tour.”
The group is working with Bear Paw Development to apply for a Montana Historical Preservation Grant through the Department of Commerce for roughly $400,000. Beneath the Streets will be providing a 20 percent match. The application is due on Monday and Beneath the Streets is working on putting the finishing touches on it.
“This has been on Bear Paw’s Work Plan and it’s been in our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for quite a while,” said Director of Community Planning Sara Strissel. “They are putting together a pretty solid grant application and I hope to be able to administer it. Because this project really needs to happen and this seems to be the best available option for funding. Funding for these types of projects is difficult. But I think approaching it from a historical preservation aspect is probably the most appropriate approach.”
The application will be submitted in the coming days and will be rated via a points system in January 2023. It would then go to the Legislature for approval, which could be finalized by May 2023. At that time, construction would begin on the project, which is estimated to take 2-3 months.
Waltari said the only environmental impact of the project would be due to dust particles when the concrete is being torn out. However, he says drains will be covered to ensure the dust remains underground.
No County approval was needed for this grant application to be sent in, but the public meeting had to be held in order to meet legal requirements for the application.
Commission Vice-Chair Mark Peterson told meeting attendees he would be willing to cover the cost of support jacks that may need to be placed at the museum on his own dime, and the Board said they appreciated the gesture.
The Board will continue seeking support from local stakeholders as the grant process unfolds, which could include having people testify directly to the Legislature.
“We feel that this is a very important part of Havre history caused by the 1904 fire. And we want to preserve that area and we want to put our displays back in there and get our handicap accessible chairlift back into place,” says Waltari.
