Lewistown landmark gets a second chance
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 47° 03.842 W 109° 25.811
12T E 619202 N 5213474
In decline for many years, the Broadway Apartments building is coming back from the dead, thanks to the Montana Preservation Alliance.
Waymark Code: WM10JAT
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 05/14/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
Views: 1

A contributor to the Lewistown Courthouse Historic District, The Broadway presently gives the appearance of a building that has fallen on hard times, but things are looking up. A little bit Classical, with Spanish Colonial influences, the Broadway Apartments came into being in 1913 as an upper-middle class apartment building for young professionals and newlyweds. Built with two stories of red brick atop a ground floor and foundation of Lewistown sandstone, the apartment remained operational for 73 years. Neither its architect not its builder are known today.

With 18 units, six on each of its three floors, The Broadway closed in 1986 and became littered with flotsam and jetsam over the next several years, while a certain amount of internal demolition work took place, removing interior wall coverings and fixtures. In 2015 a chimney collapsed, taking out part of a back wall. The next year, in 2016, the Montana Preservation Alliance took over the building with an eye to restoring it into an apartment building once again, with the aid of some grant money from the state. The ultimate goal is to repair and renovate to a certain extent and find an investor willing to buy the building then operate it as apartments condominiums, or similar.

Following are excerpts from a news article published by the Great Falls Tribune not long after the Montana Preservation Alliance began work on the building in 2016.
Lewistown landmark gets a second chance
Kristen Inbody | March 21, 2016
LEWISTOWN – For 73 years, the Broadway Apartments were an intimate witness to personal moments in the lives of young professionals and newlyweds, retirees and grandparents. The building dates from 1913, in the thick of Montana’s homestead boom...

...The apartments closed in 1986. After 30 years with nary a resident, the future looked grim for the Broadway Apartments. A chimney collapsed and tore apart the back of the building last year.

Some suggested “just demolish it and get it over with,” said Duane Ferdinand, Lewistown city planning director.

“People probably thought that was the end of the building, but we didn’t want to give up on it,” he said. “It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s a grand old building.”...

...Since 2001, the apartment has been on the Montana Preservation Alliances endangered list. The MPA bought the apartments, the first time in its 28-year history the group has purchased a building to save it.

The project will be a boon to downtown, Ferdinand said. The apartments, at Washington Street and 6th Avenue North, are an easy walk to downtown shopping, restaurants and bars...

...The project recently received a $50,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation to stabilize the building. The MPA is working on lining up more grants and tax credits.

The project will be the start of a revolving loan program. Once the building sells, proceeds will go back into a loan program to help with other historic preservation projects...

...The first step when the MPA took on the property was fencing it, boarding up the windows and stabilizing the masonry. When the weather is warm enough for mortar to set, workers can start repairs. The project is going to take longer than those with the MPA originally thought, but it will make future projects faster.
From the Great Falls Tribune
Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 03/21/2016

Publication: Great Falls Tribune

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Business/Finance

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