The Gallatin Building in the heart of downtown Bozeman, which housed the Western Drug store for 38 years, today looks like the scene of a disaster, its cavernous first floor completely gutted.
Yet owner Harry "Hap" Parks, 65, can see how far the historic brick building has come to being restored to its 1901 charm, while being made stronger and safer.
"I think it's exciting," Parks said Monday. "To bring it up to date and keep the downtown flavor of an older building is exhilarating."
His nephew, Steve Parks, 44, of America West Real Estate, who is general contractor for the reconstruction and has his own office upstairs at 40 E. Main St., agreed.
"This building is going to last another 100 years because of the work we're doing," Steve Parks said.
A lot of the reconstruction is already completed. The second floor has office suites ready for new tenants. Historic wooden floors are refinished, handsome hallway arches repainted, new skylights installed and antique solid brass doorknobs shined.
Less visible but more important structurally are the new roof, new electrical system and Internet wiring, and new heating, air conditioning and plumbing.
The work hasn't been cheap. According to city building records, the reconstruction has run at least $240,000. Hap Parks chuckled when asked how much the renovation would cost.
"A lot more than I thought," he said. "You can do a quick patch, or bite the bullet. Well, I may as well do it right, (though) I ended up spending a whole lot more."
Next, they plan to have the old yellow paint removed from the
red brick facade, put in steel I-beams for strength and install new
front windows widows.
Hap Parks, who hunted for historic photos of the Gallatin building at the Pioneer Museum, showed a 1908 image of the Fair Store. Even then, it had large glass windows.
The Black Street side will get a new sidewalk, three old-fashioned street lamps, trees, a bench and bike rack. They hope to have the work wrapped up in two months.
Just what will move into the first floor isn't decided yet. Steve Parks, who is the leasing agent for the building, said they've been talking to potential shop and restaurant owners. The Wilburforce Foundation environmental group has signed up to move in upstairs.
The idea for this big project started because Hap Parks has been in the real estate business all his life, his children live in Bozeman and he loves the downtown. He told Jim Westberg, the retired pharmacist who owned the old Western Drug building, he'd be interested if Westberg ever wanted to sell. In 2009 when he bought it, Parks was hoping the economic recession would be short-lived.
"It was a little bit of a scary time, in this economy," he said. "I'm not so sure how smart an idea it was. Time will tell."
While demolishing and digging in the Gallatin building, they've found a few historic treasures -- a penny gum dispenser, old Pabst beer cans and a 1928 campaign pamphlet for Sen. Wheeler, "the farmers' friend."
But the real treasure is the Gallatin building itself.
"It's going to be a beautiful building," said Larry Bowman, owner of Owenhouse Ace Hardware next door, who likes the renderings by architect Rob Pertzborn of Intrinsik Architecture. "Hap, the owner, has made a significant commitment to downtown. It's a major project."
"It's a real impressive design," said Courtney Kramer, the city's historic preservation officer. "It's good to see our downtown continuing to get investment."
Gail Schontzler can be reached at gails@dailychronicle.com or 582-2633.
juan a job posted at 2:27 pm on Wed, Jun 30, 2010.
more worthless stores for rich people that only come one a year!
sad what happened to a real downtown, just sad
DR posted at 10:25 pm on Tue, Jun 29, 2010.
Another summer of a block of Main being boarded up. It will take over a year to finish, too.
bdb posted at 11:38 am on Tue, Jun 29, 2010.
ray, where did your family transplant from?
micmac posted at 9:04 am on Tue, Jun 29, 2010.
Can't wait to see the finished product. Good on ya, Hap!
climbmt26 posted at 6:48 am on Tue, Jun 29, 2010.
What's with the negativity Ray? I commend Hap for his dedication to downtown Bozeman. I think it's a beautiful project and look forward to seeing the building finished.
RayH posted at 5:58 am on Tue, Jun 29, 2010.
Get ready, I'm saying it will be a Starbucks. Which is just what downtown Bozeman needs. Another place for the California transplants to go.