Downtown store getting new life
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake Malachi Roybal points out repairs that need to be made Wednesday afternoon at the Kelly Main Building in downtown Kalispell. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012 in Kalispell, Montana.</p>
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake Northwest Drywall and Roofing employees unload drywall supplies Wednesday afternoon at the Kelly Main Street Building in downtown Kalispell. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012 in Kalispell, Montana.</p>
For almost a decade, storefront windows at the Kelly-Main Street building have showcased a cavernous and forlorn — but vacant — interior near the busy intersection of Main and Center streets in downtown Kalispell.
Those windows are going black as a new owner puts up protective plastic to start a renovation of the building that was built in 1924.
Owner Paul Roybal plans to do a fast-track makeover of the first floor and move his carpet and flooring business in by Jan. 1. At least that’s the goal.
“It’s awesome,” Roybal said of the ambitious project. “We’re going to do what I do for a living, go in, tear it apart in one day and just restore it.”
“Unfortunately right now for me, I’ve been so blessed a flood of work has been flowing in, so I don’t have time to do this, but I need to do it,” he said.
Former tenant Kelly-Main Street Furniture closed its doors in 2004 after decades as a downtown anchor.
That closure left a 21,000-square-foot vacancy in downtown Kalispell.
Roybal first set his eyes on the Kelly-Main Street building eight years ago. He spent months researching the building and hoped to buy it, but was unable to reach a deal.
“Then a lot of things came about and we just went for it,” he said of the purchase that recently closed.
Following a renovation of the building’s main floor for his carpet and flooring business, Roybal plans to turn his attention to the basement and second floor and then the exterior.
He hopes to restore the storefront to its appearance before a fire in the 1970s and get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He’s trying to choose between one of several different appearances the building displayed through the decades before the fire.
Others are excited to see activity at the vacant building.
“We’re absolutely delighted to hear that building is going to be occupied,” said Pam Carbonari, director of the Kalispell Downtown Association and the Kalispell Business Improvement District.
“To see those large spaces fill up and people reinvest in the downtown, it’s exciting ... We’re excited about the future of downtown Kalispell and glad to see other businesses are also.”
Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.