Keeping The Vitality Of Montana’s Small Towns – Main Street Program, 1/24, Great Falls

2005-01-24 19:00:00

McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. S., Great Falls

Contact: N/A

Keeping the vitality of Montana’s small towns chief goal of Main Street project

Helping small towns revitalize their central business districts is the goal of the Main Street project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

It’s also the goal of a bill at the Montana Legislature that has broad-based support, according to Chere Jiusto of the Montana Preservation Alliance. In addition to her organization, supporters of the bill include the Montana League of Cities and Towns, Montana Economic Development Association, Montana Historical Society and the State Historic Preservation Office.

Jiusto will talk about the Main Street idea at the annual meeting of Preservation Cascade Inc., next Monday, Jan. 24, at McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. S. A presentation by Ellen Sievert, Cascade County preservation officer, and installation of officers are also on the agenda.

"The Main Street project is especially suited to rural communities and small towns," Jiusto said. "It aims to help with economic development, focusing on preservation of the history and culture of the downtown."

The Legislature is being asked to fund a Main Street coordinator to work with communities. Some states also set up revolving loan funds and offer investment incentives, Jiusto said.

"The program has a good track record nationwide," she added. Information on the national program is available at http://www.mainstreet.org.

Another bill Jiusto plans to discuss at the Preservation Cascade meeting is the Montana County Courthouse Restoration Act to help counties restore historic courthouses.

Across Montana’s 56 counties are 48 historic courthouses, Jiusto said. Thirteen of those, including buildings in Great Falls and Lewistown, are on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation can help with restoration funding.

The bill would help counties maintain courthouses and plan for future preservation, Jiusto said.

In addition to her legislative update, Jiusto will cover the MPA’s current list of Montana’s Most Endangered Places. On the list are the Libby High School, Trask Hall at Deer Lodge, the administration building at Boulder River School, Stonewall Hall at Virginia City, the O’Rourke Building at Butte and the Rosebud Battlefield State Park in eastern Montana.

Cascade County preservationists have been busy over the last year too, and Sievert will present an overview at the annual meeting, covering the listing on the National Historic Register of the downtown businesss districts in Great Falls and Belt and continuing restoration of the 10th Street Bridge.

"National Register signs are popping up all over," Sievert said last week. Look for them downtown, in the historic northside residential district and the railroad district west of the Civic Center.

Another local project has the air of mystery to it.

Sievert hopes to save a mural in the Federal Building courtroom. The painting, by a New York artist, depicts a herd of buffalo crossing a river, she said. It has been walled over for decades.

"If it’s still in good shape, it’s worth preserving as part of our history, and now that a new Federal Building is in the discussion stage, it’s the right time to get after it," Sievert said.

The meeting marks the beginning of the terms of the organization’s new office-holders: Linda Seibel, president; Loretta Day, vice president; Alisa Herodes, secretary, and Arlyne Reichert, treasurer.

Refreshments will be served and a door prize, donated by Great Falls artist Judy Ericksen, will be awarded.
To attend

# The annual meeting of Preservation Cascade Inc. is Monday, Jan. 24, at McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. S., at 7 p.m. Membership is $15 for individuals, $20 for a family.

By PAULA WILMOT
Tribune Staff Writer

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050117/NEWS01/501170307/1002

Reach Wilmot by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (406) 791-6594 or (800) 438-6600.