Neiffer recognized for Old Station preservation

A day before reaching his brewery's one-year anniversary, Old Station Brewing owner Steve Neiffer was presented an award Wednesday for his efforts to preserve and utilize a piece of Havre history.

As part of National Preservation Month, the Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission chose to recognize Neiffer with its annual preservation award "for his restoration and adaptive reuse of the Old Station Brewing building," Historic Preservation Officer Becki Miller said in an email.

The building, often referred to as the Heltne building, was originally constructed in 1939 and served Havre as the Grizzly Gas Station. In 1958, the back half of the building, which now serves as the brewhouse, was added on. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its contribution to roadside architecture along U.S. Highway 2.

Neiffer said that when he first bought the building from Dave Rhines and began construction in 2017, he had no clue he would end up being recognized for his efforts to preserve the building. He simply wanted to utilize the space he had purchased.

"Something had to be done," he said. "Buildings don't get nicer if they're just sitting there."

Before becoming a brewery, the building was basically an empty brick shell with hardly any piping or electricity.

"We built this place with a 20-amp breaker and an extension cord," Neiffer said, laughing.

Dan Heltne's obituary says he was working in Great Falls as a representative of Mobil Oil Company, then in 1939 went to work for Northwest Refinery Co., which became known as Grizzly Gas Co.

In 1945, Grizzly Gas Co. was purchased by Carter Oil Co.

Heltne later operated the building as Heltne's Oil Co. Service Center, and his son Doug Heltne took over after he died in 1990.

Up to its closure, Heltne's was known as a service station that still had a full-service pump - with an attendant filling the gas tank, wiping the windows and checking the oil - and if people took their car in for service work, it was returned with clean windows and vacuumed floors.

The 15-month construction process that transformed the Heltne building from an old station to Old Station Brewing modernized the interior but retained much of the original façade. The brick on both the exterior and interior walls is original, the flooring toward the east end of the building is original, and much of the paint - though faded and peeled - is also from the building's early days.

Miller and Neiffer discussed erecting a plaque to recognize the building's spot on the National Register of Historic Places, and Neiffer said he expects to have a metal plaque out front some time in the future. He added that he still has old photos and other historic artifacts that he intends to put on display throughout the bar.

Though Neiffer's name is on the award, he said he owes a lot of gratitude to the many people and businesses that helped him construct and preserve the building, specifically Frank Leeds Construction, Schine Electric, Havre Heating and A/C and Holt Plumbing.

Neiffer said he's interested in old buildings and preservation, but he didn't expect to be recognized for his efforts until the commission reached out to him last week.

"I thought this was a pretty cool deal," he said. "Someone recognized that we saved an old building. I'm honored."