Page 50 - Flathead Living // Spring 2015

Astately tree-lined entranceway leads visitors onto the grounds of the Montana Veterans’ Home in southwest Columbia Falls. At the end of the boulevard sits an impressive brick structure, so tucked away along the Flathead River that few people know about it despite its size and the fact that it’s been there for over 100 years. It’s history in hiding.
But a grassroots effort is underway to bring the “Old Main” out of hiding. The building provided care for veterans of the Civil War through World War II up until the onset of the Vietnam War, and a group
of determined locals wants to ensure that it now receives its own proper care.
“There are a lot of people right here in Columbia Falls that don’t even know about the building,” says Vicki Reynolds, a mem- ber of the Columbia Falls Historical Society. “And it’s such an amazing building.”
The Columbia Falls Historical Society is leading the restoration charge, though plans are still in the infant stages. The organiza- tion’s members and other supporters are cur- rently trying to raise community awareness about the Old Main’s significance and poten- tial, if not simply its existence.
One potential model for precedent is The
Museum at Central School in Kalispell, another 1890s building that has been resur- rected from abandonment to a second life as a cultural cornerstone and community hub. The Old Main has similar potential for trans- formation into a multi-purpose museum and activity center, though the historical society is open to exploring any good idea.
First, the group wants to solicit public input on the best plan forward, and then find donors and other funding sources who believe in the plan.
“We’d like to hear from the community,” Reynolds says.
48 FLATHEAD LIVING | SPRING 2015
Whether the Old Main ends up as a