Signs of life stirring in old high school

After seven years in the dark, the lights inside the old Libby High School building blazed as part of its transformation into Libby Lofts, which will house high-end condominiums, art studios, business offices and a coffee shop.

Next week, Libby Lofts managing partner Scott Curry will occupy a corner office of the old high school, which will serve as headquarters for the lofts, as well as an expansion of his business, TLC Engineering.

"We can move into the office right now," he said. "We're actually putting locks on the doors. We'll be moving into the Libby Lofts office next week."

Curry and building owner, Eric Berry of DEV Properties in Kalispell, are in the process of procuring a demolition permit from the city of Libby, and will meet with the School Board and EPA next week to make sure they are on the same page, information-wise.

"The last piece of the puzzle we have before applying for the permit is the asbestos plan," said Curry. "Then we'll be ready to submit floor plans, which are 99 percent completed.

"We've surveyed the site so we know what's there," he said, noting the asbestos isn't prevalent in the building.

"We haven't found any vermiculite at all," said Curry, adding that areas of concern include spray-on plaster, floor tiles and pipe wrap.

Original plans from 1917 and the 1930s, lab and sample reports were also used to identify the materials used.

Curry said they are currently designing electrical and mechanical systems for the lofts and the elevator; a heated, covered parking structure on the 8th Street side is also in the planning stages.

In order to make room, a bandshell will need to be moved from the site.

"We'd like to know the public interest as to where it should go," said Curry. "We would like to perpetuate it as a public structure, so we'll move it and we'll build another one that's architecturally consistent with the loft - as well as a different shape - to fit the site better."

Curry said anyone with ideas about the relocation of the bandshell, along with local contractors interested in working on the reconstruction efforts should contact him at (406) 291-3424.

By using art as a magnet, Libby Lofts will draw more people to the area - especially downtown - helping to boost the local economy, according to Berry.

"People would be blown away if they knew exactly how much money is brought in by the arts," he said. "It is in the top three industries in Montana as revenue - besides the more typical art such as painters and bronze sculptors, there are books, movies and actors."

With 16 years of experience wearing different hats such as project manager, designer and consultant, Berry's latest hat as owner of Libby Lofts is similar to an artists' lofts project he recently completed in Kalispell.

He said this style of lofts are the wave of the future, blending living and working spaces, artist studios, condos, retail and office space.

"This is appealing to people all over the country," said Berry, adding he is already accepting offers - most of them local.

"I've had a lot of phone calls - 12 calls all together," said Berry of the living spaces. "There are only nine condos on top. I'm signing preliminary papers on a couple of them now."

Curry noted the condos were the inspiration for the name of the building.

"Libby Lofts gets its name from the lofts that will be created on the third floor," he said. "The ceilings will be 16 feet high - two stories, with two and three bedroom residential condos."

The condos, ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, will contain 14 professional spaces for service oriented businesses and local entrepreneurs, besides the artists' and living spaces.

"These will be the first real condos in Libby," he said. "There are some office spaces that were trying to be condo-ized, but this is definitely the first time there will be a mixed-use building," said Berry.

Berry said he thinks it's important for small communites such as Libby, which has the potential for a population explosion, to carefully develop its growth, avoiding box houses or turning sections of land into hundreds of houses.

"There's a lot of other options. The traditional banking and mortgaging companies like cookie cutters. The developer likes it because it's predictable, so it's easy to cut up the land and make a blight."

Berry added that once Libby gets passed the stigma of asbestos, it will attract many people due to many natural area attractions, such as lakes, rivers, the Cabinet Mountains, camping areas, and some of the best drives.

"You can go to a lot of different places that have a checkered past - anywhere in the country - and there is always something: flooding, tornados, windstorms, landslides, or asbestos."

Centrally located between Kalispell, Missoula and Spokane, Wash., Berry said a lot of people are coming here to get away.

"In every little town that has become a nice little stop - you're going to find arts related professions," he said. "If there is a good place to walk, a main street, and it's just the right size to slow down, park and walk - find a good place to eat - it's just a nicer feel."

Berry noted that property around Libby is going fast, and it will only be a matter of time before growth occurs, so planning that growth is important.

"It could be in 15 or 20 years, but that's the difference between an investor who uses foresight and hindsight."

Behind the scenes, "Friends of the High School" has been working since 2002 to help shape Libby's downtown by saving the old high school building from demolition.

Ron Carter helped create "Friends" along with August Hardgrove and Mike Powers.

"It's a good example of the community working together," said Carter of the fight to save the building. "If you look at what's happened here, we have generated a lot of local support and people have worked together in putting this project together, creating employment in the short and long term."

Carter said he got involved because he appreciates both the aesthetic and economic value of the building, built in 1917 and completed in 1919 in the Collegic-Gothic style.

"It's our most architecturally distinguished building in town," said Carter. "They don't have that style anymore - not in brick and not that age."

For people like Carter and Hardgrove, holding onto Libby's architectural history and incorporating it into its future is worth fighting for.

"I think it's a beautiful building and it's an important part of the downtown," said Carter, noting there is no other building left in Libby that compares to it.

"It's really important for the longterm economy of the traditional downtown," Carter added. "If people don't care, they go by the wayside."

Hardgrove added that most of the old buildings in Libby such as the "Red Light" building, the "H & H Meat" building and Moose Hall have been torn down - only to become sites for parking lots.

"This building is just too great to tear down," he said. "There's no way anyone can replace that building with any amount of money - when you already got the structure, the roof, the walls - you can remodel it and put people in it.

"How many parking lots does Libby need?" Hardgrove summed up.