Columbia Falls aims to build new arch

Columbia Falls’ arch across Nucleus Avenue near U.S. 2 might emerge from old-time photo albums and back into reality later this year.

A group of volunteers with the First Best Place worked over recent months to line up donations of preliminary drawings, engineering work and labor to build what the committee is calling the Columbia Falls Centennial Arch.

They envision a structure similar to the arch that spanned the south end of Nucleus Avenue in the 1960s and early ’70s.

On Tuesday night First Best Place Executive Director Barry Conger formally asked the City Council to file a request with the Montana Department of Transportation for a permit to erect the sign. 

The arch project dovetails with proposed upgrades to a pair of welcome signs at the east and west entrances to the city.

The Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce had been interested in upgrading the signs for some time, so it began working with the highway department on its guidelines and permit process. Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary joined with the Chamber in the effort. The Chamber is asking the city to apply for permits for those signs as well.

Tuesday night’s request by the Centennial Arch Committee is the formal step following the committee’s successful discussions with city and state officials in which, Conger said, all parties agreed that the arch would be feasible.

Pending council approval, Conger said the permitting process should take about six months. The Centennial Arch Committee will use that time to continue work on design, materials and funding.

Don Gimbel Sr. and Don Gimbel Jr. propelled the project into action, Conger said. They had been working on the welcome signs at city entrances and learned of ongoing discussions about the arch.

“The Gimbels stepped up and said they were interested in doing this,” Conger said Tuesday.

They represent the Iron Workers Union, the same group behind installing the playground equipment at Marantette Park, and already have volunteered all metal work for the arch.

Grover and Co. architects donated the design work, APEC Engineering donated the civil engineering work, and local businesses have committed to donate the masonry work.

“This will take a communitywide effort to pull together,” Conger said in a press release. “It takes volunteers, financial support, City Council support and all our residents coming together to bring this to reality.”

First Best Place already seized on the Gimbels’ enthusiasm to ramp up efforts and make the arch happen

Anne Scott Markel chairs the First Best Place committee composed of the Gimbels, Mayor Don Barnhart, council member Dave Petersen, Glacier Bank’s Gary Sparr, Grover and Co.’s Ron Nash, and First Best Place’s Dave Renfrow and Conger.

The committee’s goal, as listed in the press release, is to create a major landmark to greet visitors, encourage traffic into the uptown business district, showcase the town’s history in timber and natural resources and express pride in the community.

The design, meant to highlight the town’s heritage and connection to the outdoors, would give a nod to the historic arch and would incorporate local materials including steel, timber and stone.

The arch would be 35 feet high and 85 feet long. The timber beams in the arch would be about 4 feet tall and 20 feet long. 

The original arch, built in the early 1960s by Leo Renfrow, according to the press release, was championed by Chamber of Commerce President Jack King. It was removed in 1973 to make room for the U.S. 2 expansion.

The City Council did not make a decision Tuesday on whether or not it would submit an application for the arch.

City Manager Bill Shaw told the council he is checking with the city’s insurance company to make sure the work will be covered. Normally, with such projects, the city hires a contractor and that contractor carries insurance on the project.

“I don’t think it is difficult,” he said. “It’s just not typical for us.”