Remodeling begins on C.F. square

The Daily Inter Lake

The Columbia Falls professional community kicked off a "contracted volunteerism" initiative at Glacier Discovery Square on Saturday.

A crew led by the Green Builders Guild started a remodeling project at the former First Citizens Bank and Glacier Bank building on Nucleus Avenue in uptown Columbia Falls. Grover & Company Architecture, GSS Electric and APEC Engineering helped with the effort.

It was the first of two Saturdays' worth of work to remove the old bank teller line and some of the interior walls in the building.

Dave Renfrow, president of the First Best Place Task Force, which owns Glacier Discovery Square and is developing the project, said building contractors offered to donate their time and expertise to the project.

"This is a great example of how things can get done, even in a down economy, when a community comes together," Renfrow said.

Volunteers from diverse groups in the community also pitched in. It will open up the building's main event space to better accommodate the large crowds that have been attending seminars and lectures series that the task force has been presenting.

Materials will be salvaged as appropriate, and any remaining refuse will be recycled locally.

Task force member Erick Robbins said the work is just a small piece of the overall remodel effort. Fundraising continues for the library relocation, but the building is being used as much as possible in the meantime.

The group intends to use "contracted volunteerism" as much as possible on the project. Volunteers will be contracted to work in much the same way that a typical subcontractor would be, rather than simply showing up and picking up a hammer.

It allows professional tradesmen to contribute to the project at discounted rates, or with free services, but still have the job professionally managed and scheduled.

Task force leadership will announce future phases of the project and put out calls for bids as needed.