News you can use
News you can use
The Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association, has recently received a significant financial boost to its ongoing efforts to repair critical damage to the fort’s Officers’ Amusement Hall roof.
A press release sent by Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission Historic Preservation Officer Becki Miller, who has been assisting the association in its efforts, said the organization has now secured $87,000 for the project, but more will be needed to cover the $100,000 plus cost of the repairs before winter comes around again and further damage is inflicted.
Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association Chair Ron VandenBoom said in an interview last month that he discovered the leaks two years ago and they potentially threaten to damage the last remaining painting in the building.
The amusement hall features a stage where officers, including Gen. John J. Pershing, then a first lieutenant, would put on plays using paintings as a backdrop.
VandenBoom said the painting, depicting an unknown building and a gate, is in danger of having irreversible damage done if the leaks go unattended for too long and water gets through the drywall behind it.
These repairs are part of a larger effort to give the hall more public use and Montana State University has pledged its support along with the Montana State Historic Preservation Office which provided the association with a $60,720 Revitalizing Montana’s Rural Heritage Grant, the release says.
It also says part of the recent influx of funds for the project is from an anonymous donor who pledged a dollar-for-dollar $4,000 match.
These come on the heels of a $10,000 grant from the Montana Historical Foundation that the association received last month.
The amusement hall was built in 1886-87, before Havre existed, by enlisted men using stones from the Missouri River Breaks.
The building was primarily operated by the officers’ wives and, in its time, was fully decorated with tapestries, brightly colored walls and chandeliers.
The building would hold dances, a regimental band on its stage and had a kitchen that would be used to cook food for holiday banquets until the fort’s decommissioning in 1911. Both of those areas are in need of repairs, although less urgently than the roof.
Northern Agricultural Research Center of Montana State University took ownership of the fort in 1915 and used the Amusement Hall for storage. But when NARC built a new storage building, it allowed the association access to the Amusement Hall for fort tours. Since the building is outside of the institution’s research mission, it has been a low priority for state maintenance funds, the release said.
Despite its low-priority status when it comes to state funds, NARC Superintendent Darrin Boss said in a statement after the foundation received the grant last month that he and his colleagues at the center are happy to be part of the effort to rehabilitate the building.
“It is a grand structure that was the centerpiece to many cultural and social activities for the soldiers and their families when the fort was active,” he said. “This stone building is an important part of the fort’s legacy.”
In addition to the grants it’s seeking and received, the association itself has raised $17,000 on its own, but they are looking to raise more in the coming weeks so reapairs can start as soon as possible.
VandenBoom said nearly all of the underside of the roof will require replacement and recent spikes in the cost of lumber is the reason the cost of repairs has gotten so much higher than the initial estimate the association received back in 2019.
“It’s not just a matter of nailing on some tiles,” he said.
The release says people willing to support the repairs should get in touch with Association Secretary Treasurer Lynda Taplin at 406-265-7670 or VandenBoom at 406-262-7656 and donations can be mailed to PO Box 863, Havre, MT 59501 or submitted online at https://fortassinniboine.org/donate/ .
Fort Assinniboine reopening plans
Fort Assinniboine is also reopening for tours.
The tourism site has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the association is planning to resume tours this coming summer, albeit with smaller group sizes, four or five people at maximum, as requested by MSU.
VandenBoom said he’s not sure what effect the pandemic will have on tourism this summer, whether fear of it will cause a decrease in traffic, or if the isolation will have the opposite effect and increase interest.
Details on hours were not available yet
Whatever happens, he said, he suspects it will not be a normal year, whether that means they will be packed or empty remains to be seen, but he’s hoping for the former.
Reader Comments(0)