New rail park a big step toward revitalization

Plans to revitalize Kalispell’s railroad corridor saw an interesting turn last week, with word that a new rail-served industrial park will be taking shape at the city’s edge.

The park will be developed over the next 18 to 24 months at the former McElroy & Wilken gravel pit off Whitefish Stage Road and offer shovel-ready sites for businesses that need rail access.

Flathead County Economic Development Authority bought the 40-acre property last Friday.

In coming weeks it plans to hire an engineering firm to help design and layout the site, which could be annexed if Kalispell wanted.

The rail park was announced just as Kalispell planning staff are creating a Core Area Revitalization Plan. The planning area covers a six-block wide swath of land that runs along the city’s railroad spur.

One idea being explored is removing the tracks; a big decision for a city that got its start as a railroad town more than a century ago.

But Kalispell’s once-thriving railroad corridor has become increasingly run down and underutilized from lack of investment.

There are 19 acres of vacant land and buildings along the tracks, which today are used by just two businesses: CHS Kalispell and Northwest Drywall & Roofing.

BOTH BUSINESSES have been approached about moving to the new rail park.

They said they are willing to at least entertain the idea, if nothing else.

“I love my location, but it would be fine to move to a new location with rail. At who’s expense and how we get it done is the big question,” said Pam Mower, the co-owner of Northwest Drywall & Roofing Supply.

The company sees 30 to 35 trains a year.

“Just picking up and moving a 30,000-square-foot building isn’t easy ... One foot in front of the other is how I see it,” Mower said about the discussions and the city’s planning process.

The biggest user of the railroad tracks, CHS Kalispell, sees 300 to 350 trains a year. It ships agricultural products such as wheat, canola and barley out of Flathead Valley.

The company’s concrete grain elevator dates back to 1908, when it was built by the Kalispell Flour Mill. It has been in service ever since.

“I think that location would be very adequate for us, but there’s no reason financially to make the move,” Mark Lalum, general manager, said about the new rail park.

“It’s one of those investments. As a company, why would you do it just because everybody wants the railroad tracks out of the heart of the city? I try to be a nice guy, but not that nice.”

REMOVING THE railroad tracks would free up land for new bike and walking paths and retail and residential development.

It would also help with street and infrastructure connectivity. Just six roads cross the tracks in about 1.5 miles, putting more traffic on the roads that do cross them.

Kalispell has talked about removing the railroad tracks for 30 years, city officials said.

Getting a rail park site where the two businesses that use the tracks could be relocated clears what was one major stumbling block in the past.

Funding for such an endeavor would be another major hurdle.

At least two possible funding sources have been hinted at. Those include $1 million of Brownfields grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the West Side Tax Increment Finance District.

The Kalispell City Council will vote Monday on a resolution to issue bonds for a water-line project. The new debt for the project would extend the life of the tax increment finance district through 2037.

Otherwise on track to sunset in mid-March, the West Side Tax Increment Finance District is projected to raise about $480,000 of tax increment this fiscal year. It already holds close to $2 million that has been collected but not spent.

A West Side Urban Renewal Plan was expanded last fall to run along the railroad tracks to the eastern city limit. One major goal in the plan is removing the tracks.

That boundary expansion sets the stage for the Kalispell City Council to consider expanding the tax increment finance district to overlay the same area, assuming its life is extended Monday.

“IT’S A PROCESS moving along and some steps are moving faster than others,” Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

“With this [rail park] property coming into play, we actually have the possibility of making this work. The big question is how.”

As part of that process, Kalispell also needs to formally decide if it wants the tracks removed.

That question is being explored through the creation of the Core Area Revitalization Plan, which should be done by the end of the year.

Also on Monday, the council will vote on a $30,000 contract for a design company to produce images of what the core area could look like if the railroad tracks were taken out and 10 big “catalyst sites” were redeveloped.

Kalispell is forming a steering committee to work with the design company.

“It’s a three- to six-month program to give some life to what that area could look like,” Jentz said.

Throughout the process, city planning staff have talked to dozens of property owners and held several open houses for input on the Core Area Revitalization Plan.

“Industry does not seem to be the future of this area. Overwhelmingly we’ve found the idea that maybe the tracks have outlived their usefulness,” Jentz reported to the Kalispell Planning Board two weeks ago.

ULTIMATELY, EVEN if the two businesses that use the tracks can’t be moved to the rail park and the tracks can’t be taken out, the new rail park is only good news for Kalispell, Community Development Manager Katharine Thompson said.

“If they are moved out, that’s fine and good. [The rail park] would potentially give existing rail users a site for a new home and keep them in Kalispell, which is right where we want them,” Thompson said.

“If it does not happen, that’s OK, too. The important piece of having that rail park at Kalispell’s doorstep is that we can attract new businesses, significant employers, to this community.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.