Designed by N. T. Nelson, this union hall, though not aesthetically outstanding, was, in its early life, one of the more important buildings in Butte, predominantly a town of workers and laborers. While the Carpenter' Union was chartered in 1890, this building was not constructed until 1906. Well crafted of brick, wood and stone, the building itself is a good example of the level of craftsmanship available in Butte at that time.
In this building were the union headquarters of not only the Carpenters & Joiners, but also the Iron Workers, Steel Metal Workers, Clerks, Boilermakers, Laborers, Teachers and Women's Protective Unions.
Though a similar union, The Montana Carpenters Local 82, exists in Butte today, they use another building. As far as we know there are no longer any unions which use the hall. Until the end of 2011 several unions continued to meet in the hall, but all were forced to find other accommodations when the building was emptied to undergo a thorough inspection due to its declining health. At that time demolition was even a possibility if the cost of remediation proved too great.
The following news article was published in 2011, after tenants had received notices to vacate and before the date on which they were required to vacate.
Union hall in peril
By Nick Gevock of The Montana Standard | Nov 3, 2011
The owner of the Carpenters’ Union Hall at 156 W. Granite St. in Uptown Butte has sent letters informing tenants they have to move out by the end of the year as they evaluate what to do with the historic building.
The tenants include two local union offices — the machinists and laborers — as well as local desktop publisher Wordz and Ink. The building, owned by the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters of Kennewick, Wash., is in disrepair and in need of major upgrades, said Eric Franklin, spokesman for the council.
“There are some structural issues, and we need to find out how extensive they are,” Franklin said in a telephone interview Wednesday with The Montana Standard. “There’s a whole section of the building that was kind of cordoned off and left to the pigeons.”
He said they plan to have engineers and architects look over the building after it's vacated. Franklin added the union is keeping all options on the table depending on what the engineers say about the structure.
“We’re looking at getting out of the rental business, so that was the decision made that that was the best thing to do,” he said. “Since it’s a historic building, demolition is probably the last option we want to see, but if we’re told the price to bring it up to snuff is exorbitant we’ll have to look at all the options.”
Two local representatives of unions that lease space in the hall say they were told nothing until they received the vacate notice this year.
Troy Buhl, business representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said they’re not happy about the notice to be out by Dec. 31. They were worried about the requirement to move when the carpenters consolidated unions moved all their workers statewide under one office in Great Falls.
“We asked them all summer long if we need to get ready to move and they said not to worry about it,” he said. “Now we get an eviction notice in the middle of winter.”
And Zena Beth McGlashan, owner of Wordz and Ink, said it would be sad if the regional headquarters decides to level the building. The hall is also used by the Butte Teachers’ Union and several other organized labor unions use its meeting hall.
“It doesn’t look good for the carpenters to walk away from the historic labor hall in a town that is the heart of the labor
movement,” she said.
But Franklin said the change reflects the modern way of doing business. He said often the cost of upgrading a historic building
far exceeds the cost of building a new structure. Still, Franklin said they recognize the historic importance of the building as well as its prime location in Uptown right across from the Butte-Silver Bow County Courthouse.
From the Montana Standard