For sale: 119-year-old bridge span
<p>Pete Skibsrud poses in front of of the Old Steel Bridge on June 10 east of Kalispell. Skibsrud has put the bridge span up for sale.</p>
Pete Skibsrud, the Kalispell man who bought a large section of the Old Steel Bridge several years ago, now is advertising it for sale.
Skibsrud recently placed a classified ad saying, “For sale or trade, old steel bridge, $50,000 obo.”
The 140-foot span was purchased by Skibsrud in 2009 for $15,000 after it had been replaced by a modern bridge.
The span that Skibsrud owns was part of the bridge that crossed the Flathead River east of Kalispell from 1894 to 2008.
He had hoped to put it to use as a foot bridge across the Stillwater River near Flathead Valley Community College, but that did not come to pass. He has worked with a variety of people looking for alternatives that also haven’t worked out.
“It’s my bridge. I’m the only one with a nickel in this thing,” Skibsrud said, adding that the $50,000 price tag, or best offer, is appropriate.
“It’s worth that,” he said. “If you went to buy a bridge like that, it would cost a lot.”
The span was placed on property near the Flathead River managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Over the last few years, agency officials have been pressing Skibsrud to have it moved, largely because of the potential liability it presents.
“We’ve given Pete a few years to come up with another option for it,” regional fisheries manager Jim Vashro said recently. “Our concern is it’s an attractive nuisance. We have it posted that people are supposed to stay off it, but we have people climbing on it all the time ... We’re concerned about the liability of allowing it to remain there.”
Skibsrud said he hopes a purchaser will have a plan for moving it in the near future.