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