One of the last round barns to be built in the nation and one of the few to be built in Montana, the Kent Dairy Round Barn appears to be the last one standing in the state. There is a wooden round barn in Arcadia, OK which claims to be the only truly round barn in the country. If that claim is true (disregarding this barn), that would make this one of only two in the country.
Erected in 1939-41, the barn was built of red brick salvaged from a building in Bearcreek which was bought by the Kents and dismantled, solely for the value of the bricks.
Following its stints as restaurant, antique shop and Ford dealership, in 2015 the historic became a church, the home of a campus of the
.
While the church was still undergoing renovation but open for business, the Carbon County News ran an article on the goings on at the new church building. Excerpts from the story can be seen below.
A fresh start for Historic Round Barn
Published: Thu, 09/17/2015 - 9:49am
...the Historic Round Barn, Red Lodge, the new home of the Church of the Rockies. The building was originally built using lumber, brick and other materials from a two-story building used for vaudeville and “talkies” in Bear Creek 80 years ago. In 1995 the Kent Family Round Barn Dairy was nominated and selected to the National Registry of Historical Places.
In its time the Historic Round Barn, north of Red Lodge, has been many things to many people. It started life as a dairy operation, evolved into an antique outlet, became a dinner theater venue and then a Ford dealership. Now it begins a fresh start as the home of the Church of the Rockies run under the auspices of Lee Merck, founding pastor of the ministry.
Since buying the building last December, Merck and the church congregation have put their collective shoulder to the wheel and restored some former glory to the place. There is a large area for a nursery, the rest rooms have been renovated, the staircase leading up to the second floor has been widened and now has hand rails, window frames have been replaced, and a deck off the second floor now exists on the backside of the building to accommodate Bible studies amid towering aspens and the sound of a small babbling creek. Merck is pleased that his original vision for the venue is still intact although he admits “it’s hard to see it at times” with the continued reconstruction of the 80 year old building.
The church's congregation meets upstairs in a space that can presently hold 130-150 people. Merck has plans to move the stage that sits in the middle of the room further back to open up the space to hold more people.
Thirty new lights have also been installed in this area as it was “so dark, people had trouble reading their Bibles,” recalled Merck.
Away from the main building, Merck has plans to utilize further space downstairs to build an industrial kitchen that will accommodate the youth classes he plans to develop in the 2,000 square foot metal building that was the Ford dealership’s work shop.
A covered walkway will connect the old workshop to the side building housing the kitchen.
Outside Merck also wants to develop a park within the grounds, complete with picnic tables and will even lay down pads to provide campers coming through with a place to stay.
From the Carbon County News