The passage of a resolution to sell the Central School to the Northwest Montana Historical Society received applause on Monday night from a collective of longtime community members invested in the building’s historical significance. The museum has leased the building since 1997, after the city of Kalispell saved it from threatened demolition. The museum changed its name in 2019 from the Museum at Central School to the Northwest Montana History Museum to clarify that it collects and stores historical artifacts from around the region.
A chairman for the original Save the Central School committee that helped save the building recalled a board made up of a “who’s who of families with generations in the valley.” She spoke about the group’s two-fold mission to preserve the building with necessary renovations and convert it into a museum to “celebrate our city and our county.”
Margaret Davis, the museum’s director, shared her gratitude for the council hearing the resolution, which mandates maintaining the property’s historical value.
“We stand on the shoulders of giants as far as people who were long-range thinkers for our community,” Davis said.
Jim Atkinson, a previous council member, recalled voting to approve the museum, where he now volunteers.
“If this council chooses to deliver the museum to this nonprofit it will be like a wrapping on a package,” Atkinson said of moving the property over into the museum’s hands.
The resolution allows Interim City Manager Jarod Nygren to fill out and sign necessary paperwork to complete the sale. The property needs to be surveyed, and the sale likely won’t finalize for a “number of months,” Nygren said. The city sold the building for $1.
I’m Zoë Buhrmaster. Let’s see what else is making history around northwest Montana today.
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