Meeting set online for Havre Downtown Master Plan

Havre Daily News staff

A meeting on Havre’s Downtown Master Plan will be held online by High Plains Architects Monday, July 11, 2022.

People can join the meeting online at https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTY4YjZjMjAtN2JiZC00YTU4LWFkOTYtMzI0ZDUwZDFkNmNm%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22428c44b3-5c9e-4275-a537-4168780bb4d9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%227d570b54-ba9b-4d1b-88aa-b8806b561bd8%22%7d or via Bitly at https://bit.ly/3ujQJbb .

“This is our community, the future is in our hands — your voice matters,” a release on the meeting said. “Hope you are able to join us.”

High Plains Architects has been hired to design a downtown master plan and already has held an informational meeting and community meeting in Havre.

Work to develop a master plan for Havre’s downtown area has been in the works for several years.

Downtown Havre Matters! was formed to try to find ways to improve the area, and one of the first steps was to apply to the Montana Department of Commerce’s Montana Main Street Program which provides a range of services and assistance to communities striving to enhance economic and business vitality while maintaining local historic integrity, quality of life and sense of place. The program offers technical assistance and expertise to member communities and awards competitive grant funding to communities actively working on downtown revitalization, economic development and historic preservation.

Havre was approved as a member of the program, which now includes 34 communities, in 2020 and then applied for a grant to develop a downtown master plan.

The driving forces behind the plan have been the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, Bear Paw Development Corp., the city of Havre and Downtown Havre Matters!

The plan is being funded in part by the Hill County Community Foundation, Montana Main Street Program and the Big Sky Trust Fund Program.