Butte’s historic landmark status in jeopardy

Butte is on notice: Its designation as a National Historic Landmark District is officially "threatened."

Too many demolitions in recent years, coupled with a lack of rehabilitation and new buildings that don’t blend in well with their surroundings prompted the U.S. Department of Interior to assign this "threatened" label following a 2002 site visit.

By Roberta Forsell Stauffer of The Montana Standard

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2003/12/28/newsbutte_top/hjjgihhbjafhhd.txt

And if things don’t turn around, "de-listing" is likely, according to Rolene Schliesman of the state historic preservation office.

"Who wants to be a former National Historic Landmark District?" Schliesman asked Butte-Silver Bow commissioners at the close of her midnight presentation at their last marathon meeting.

Schliesman said Butte’s district "rivals" that of Charleston, S.C., and is the largest in the West.

"You are the stewards for all Americans on this," she said. "It may seem like (historic preservation officer) Mark (Reavis) is trying to save everything, but he has a very large area he’s trying to protect."

The landmark district was established in 1961 and basically takes in the whole Butte Hill from Front Street on the south to the north reaches of Walkerville. The Berkeley Pit mining area forms the east border, and the west boundary extends beyond Montana Tech and includes the Lower West Side residential neighborhood, Reavis said.

He estimates that about 150 buildings have been lost in the district over the past four or five years for various reasons, including fires, health and safety mandates and new construction.

Butte Archives Director Ellen Crain estimates 25 to 40 buildings were torn down to accommodate the expansion of St. James Healthcare, and buildings were also lost during the remodeling of Butte High School and to make way for the new jail behind the courthouse.

And at the same time the original district status is threatened, a request is pending at the National Park Service to expand the district’s boundaries to take in even more area history.

After years of research, an application was submitted in September to make the entire Butte-Anaconda area a National Labor History Landmark.

"This effort stemmed from the realization that it’s all one story," Reavis said. "Mining, smelting, transportation and labor history — they all make up one big story that’s nationally significant. These sites really should be linked."

Crain hopes county officials will heed the warning from Schliesman and start taking steps toward having the ‘threatened’ designation lifted.

"We’ve got something pretty special here, and we can’t just let it go," Crain said. "If people really truly believe their history is important, we have to start taking steps to safeguard it."

Schliesman also informed commissioners that Butte’s status as a "Certified Local Government" through the state historic preservation office is at risk.

That certified designation translates into about $5,500 a year to help fund Reavis’ position, and it also gives him authority to conduct required reviews on federally funded efforts such as Butte’s lead paint abatement program.

She handed out a list of 11 "action steps" that would help bring Butte back into good standing with both state and federal historic preservation agencies.

The steps include allowing the local Historic Preservation Commission a greater role in advising the council and making it the design review committee for Urban Revitalization Agency projects.

More stringent review of proposed demolitions within the district was also called for, along with public funding for mothballing and for promoting the sale of county-owned historic buildings.

Reaction to Schliesman’s presentation was somewhat mixed.

Chief Executive Judy Jacobson expressed frustration over the lack of credit given for all the historic preservation work the county has done in recent years. At Jacobson’s request, Community Development Director Pam Haxby-Cote gave a brief presentation outlining $2.44 million spent over the past three years through building improvement and sidewalk programs in the URA district, lead paint abatement work and mine headframe restoration grants.

"Yes, there have been demolitions, but we have done a tremendous amount to save things," Jacobson said.

Council Chairman Mike Kerns mentioned that just the week before, the council approved demolition of a rundown building in the historic district on West Mercury Street.

"We want to preserve our heritage, but when an entire neighborhood wants a building down … they have rights, too," Kerns said. "We don’t want to cooperate to the point where we can’t tear down any more buildings."

Commissioner Mike Sheehy expressed interest in helping to draft an ordinance to better protect the historic district, and Schliesman said she’d gladly help.

And given the tourist draw that historic sites bring, Commissioner Charlie O’Leary said this notice that the landmark district is threatened should be taken seriously. "I don’t think we should ever treat that designation lightly," he said.

Schliesman said she’s hoping the state certification issues can be resolved by 2005. The next federal inspection will be in 2004, but there’s no set timeline on the threatened status of the landmark district.

Reporter Roberta Stauffer may be reached via email at [email protected].