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Preserve the depot

Missouri Headwaters Preservation Trust (MHPT) would like to make the public aware of the proposed dismantling of the Milwaukee Railroad Depot on East Main, the site of the future library. We learned in early July that the current plans for the new library do not include the depot. Instead this historic structure is to be dismantled, the veneer bricks cleaned and palletized, and stored in hopes that a replica of the depot might be built sometime in the future.


 The depot is in the Conservation Overlay District which according to the Bozeman 2020 plan is used to protect, preserve. enhance, and regulate structure and areas that are reminders of past eras or provide examples of physical surroundings in which past generations lived.

According to city regulations, applications for the demolition or movement of structures within the conservation district will not be accepted without a complete submittal for the subsequent development of the site. The City Commission can also postpone demolition for up to two years to give the community a chance to find preservation alternatives and funding.

MHPT is currently working with several interested parties to acquire the necessary funds to move the depot to another location on the library site. We realize that saving the Milwaukee Railroad Depot is expensive but so is the cost of building a replica and the historic value of the structure would be lost.

Construction of the library is not expected to begin until 2004, and the Department of Environmental Quality does not require that the structure be removed in order to clean up the site. We hope that the city will grant our community the time to save this depot by denying the permit to dismantle the building at this time.

The demolition permit will be heard by the City Commission at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4. If you feel as we do, that preserving our heritage whenever possible is important, please let our City Commission know. Call them, e-mail them, and attend the demolition hearing on Monday Aug. 4 at City Hall.

We don't want to let another piece of our history slip sway without looking at all the possibilities.

Rachael Wallace

President

Missouri Headwaters Preservation Trust

401 South Willson

Bozeman

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