Havre Beneath the Streets restoration may be on the horizon

An area of Havre Beneath the Streets that's been cordoned off since 2017 due to deterioration is in a short line for funding during this legislative session, and members of its staff and board are excited for work to begin to restore the area as soon as this year if all goes well.

The area, a motor services shop that, like many businesses at the time, retreated into its own basement after a fire destroyed much of Havre in 1904, and the attraction's main entrance until 2017, has been closed to the public for years after deterioration of the area became a serious problem.

Havre Beneath the Streets Office Manager Christy Owens said they'd noticed the area becoming problematic and had to close it down five years ago after bringing in an engineer to examine it.

Havre Beneath the Streets Board Member Jerry Waltari said while the cordoned off area is only one room, it was one that contained five displays, more than 20 percent of the museum's total, so it was a substantial loss.

Waltari and Owens said the area also housed the attraction's main entrance and their handicap-accessible chair lift so it's been an operational detriment as well.

Owens said supports were put up in the area to strengthen the ceiling for safety, but, otherwise, the organization has been slowly but surely fundraising for the project, which has seen its already-high cost balloon year after year.

The group had been fundraising for the project for years, but it was very slow going, then in 2020 the pandemic hit, and they had to cancel their biggest fundraising events for two years, and almost immediately after that a wave of inflation hit.

Even without inflation, she said, time certainly wasn't improving the area and as the years went on the project would only get more and more expensive, and individual donations weren't going to be able to cover much of it.

"Time is not in our favor," Owens said.

Beyond the issue of cost, she said, the intervening time has also been difficult for them, having to use an entirely different entrance, buy wheelchairs to make it accessible and having had to temporarily store all but one of the displays previously in that room.

She said the dentist display was moved, albeit to a space that's far too small for it, but the other displays including those for the motor services shop and post office have had to be stored.

She said they still talk about those places and their history on the tour, but having the displays gone makes it a lesser experience, one they would like to, and may soon be able to, restore.

Owens said, prospects for the project's funding recently took a turn for the better, with the project recently having been placed high on the state's priority list for Historic Preservation Grants.

Owens and Waltari said the project had been ranked 10th out of the 49 the state was considering funding, and the latest they'd heard was that the state was hoping to fund 28 of the projects on the list, putting Havre Beneath the Streets in a great position.

"Our 20-year plans are becoming five-year plans," she said.

Waltari credited their placement on the list in part to Owens, who, he said, went down to Helena before a subcommittee of the Montana Department of Commerce and made a great presentation on Havre Beneath the Streets, its importance to the community and local economy.

He said the project, initially estimated at $200,000 has since climbed to between $400,000 and $500,000, and that last estimate is from 10 months ago, so this grant would be an incredible one to get.

Owens said the grant does have a 20 percent match and they don't know the final price for the project just yet, so they still have some fundraising to do, including for getting the place set back up after its restoration.

She said even in the best-case scenario, there will be plenty of work to do, but at this point shovels could be in the ground as early as this summer, and based on what they know so far, the best case scenario is a serious possibility.

"Things are looking very positive for us," Waltari said.

Owens and Waltari said local legislators have been supportive of the project as well so they are confident that the Legislature will approve the project once the time comes, though that likely won't be until late in the session.

Waltari said the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce is also setting up a new program to help projects like this so they might be getting some help from them as well.