Old School Station on its way

By KRISTI ALBERTSON

Osprey Media takes wing at tech park

The Daily Inter Lake

With plans that include a full-scale production studio, a performing arts center and a variety of as-yet-undetermined technology companies from around the country, Old School Station has been derided by some as nothing more than a pipe dream.

But the pipes are being laid - for sewer and water, at least - and the dream is well on its way to becoming a reality.

When developers Andy Miller and Paul Wachholz formed Montana Venture Partners over two years ago, they bought 200 acres on U.S. 93 South, 55 of which were dedicated to building a light industrial and tech park christened Old School Station. The park was annexed into Kalispell in June 2005 and will be connected to city water and sewer lines by Nov. 1.

Construction began on the development's first building - a home for Wachholz's wine, soda and beer distribution company, Fun Beverage Inc. - began in March and will be completed by February 2007. Curb and gutter work will be finished and street lights up by Oct. 15, Wachholz said.

Once the infrastructure is in place, promoting the park can begin in earnest, he added.

"We haven't been aggressively marketing Old School Station, only because we cannot show the product or lots at the very best - that's when the infrastructure is done," he said. "So when that's completed, it will be a lot more, 'What you see is what you get,' and that will make a big, big difference."

EVEN WITHOUT aggressive marketing, Wachholz isn't the only businessman who has invested in the park. Two tech companies just bought property there, Miller said, but until the deals are complete, he cannot disclose their names. The companies are in the process of finalizing their architectural designs, he said.

Janitor's World Supplies, currently located on Airport Road, is also moving to Old School Station. Dennis Bennett, who owns the business with his wife, Almae, said crews could break ground on the 20,000-square-foot building as early as this fall, depending on how soon the park's infrastructure is ready.

Miller hopes to break ground by next spring on the Osprey Media Production Center, which, when finished, will comprise about 57,000 square feet and various media-related departments, including radio, film, gaming, graphics, radio and television. It will have a 150-seat performing-arts theater as well.

Miller formed Osprey Media with two partners: Paul Vallely, who retired from the U.S. Army in 1991 as deputy commanding general and is a military analyst for FOX News, and Gerald R. Molen, a Great Falls native and Hollywood producer whose resume includes "Schindler's List," "Hook" and "Jurassic Park." Osprey Radio, the trio's first joint venture into the media world, launched in July.

In its current form, Osprey Radio consists of just one show, "Stand Up America," hosted by Vallely. The show is broadcast on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon, Mountain time, on conservative radio Web site Rightalk.com.

Thanks to global exposure via the Internet, "Stand Up America" has anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 listeners after just seven episodes, Miller said. Soon the show will add another hour each week, but he doesn't know when that second hour will air. He'd prefer having a second show on another day of the week, because he realizes it may be difficult for listeners to sit at a computer for two consecutive hours.

Once the second hour is added, they hope to add streamed video, Miller said. Eventually, the show will be syndicated and available on satellite radio.

Thus far, Osprey Radio has been well-received, he said. "It's really giving us legs on our stool to launch Osprey Media."

THE NEXT leg is Osprey Television, which Miller hopes to have under way by the end of the year. The format, at least initially, for the satellite channel will be international and national news.

Another aspect of Osprey Media is the gaming, graphics and simulation department. The company's "strategic partner" in this venture is Big Island Publishing, a Minnesota-based software company that develops, among other things, war-simulation games for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Further down the line are plans for Osprey Film and Documentary Production. They are currently negotiating with a company to co-produce a movie, Miller said. Discussions began about two months ago.

"Hopefully that will come to fruition," he said, but added that if it doesn't, the company will pursue other venues. Eventually, Miller and his partners envision movies created from script to final production all at Osprey Media.

But more importantly, Miller said, they picture a place Montana's young people can come to find well-paying, creative jobs.

The Flathead Valley's quality of life will attract up-and-coming workers who, as a whole, prefer to find a job after deciding where to live. However, the valley has to be prepared with jobs that will use those workers' skills and talents, Miller said.

"Young people want to move to this area and want opportunities to utilize the intellectual capital they've been involving themselves in," he said. "We can attract young people here, but if there's nothing for them to do, they're going to go elsewhere."

OSPREY MEDIA will likely play a significant role in Old School Station's future, but it is by no means the park's sole focus. Work is already well under way on Wachholz's $10 million, 110,000-square-foot Fun Beverage building.

Miller is also working with EMC Corp., a multibillion-dollar consulting company, to build a co-location facility, or data repository. Businesses with sensitive information, such as those in financial or medical fields, need places to store data in case something happens to the original information.

Think of it like backing up the information stored on a hard drive, Miller said.

"It's a very high-tech kind of facility," he said. "It's sort of a bunker … to protect the kinds of things companies want to protect."

Data repositories exist in major cities across the country, but building one in Kalispell makes sense, he said. This area is at low risk for terrorist attacks, and buildings can be made to withstand natural threats like earthquakes, fires or floods.

The high-tech plans for Old School Station are very different from the development that has traditionally occurred in the valley, and Miller and his partners have endured their share of criticism.

"The most frustrating thing is the negative attitude: It's not going to happen," Miller said.

But not everyone is negative. The project has received a great deal of support, both throughout the state and here in the valley. Departments within the Kalispell Area Chamber of Commerce, like the Small Business Development Center, have helped Old School Station's developers with planning and logistics.

"We're excited by the possibilities, if all of this can play out like we hope," Kalispell Chamber president Joe Unterreiner said.

Miller is confident the plans will become reality.

"There have been too many things that have happened, that have been good, to discourage me," he said. "I don't look at the glass half empty."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com