Downtown group sets goals for city

From beautification to entertainment, the Downtown Business Improvement District has several ideas to improve Kalispell.

The district board met with the Kalispell City Council on Monday to discuss the future of downtown Kalispell

The Business Improvement District laid out four central ideas during the meeting.

The first involved efforts to beautify and revitalize downtown. Trees and landscaping were a primary concern for the district, which spent over $3,000 to replant trees that had died of malnutrition or lack of water.

The responsibility of watering the trees had fallen upon the Kalispell Parks Department.

Tim Price of the Business Improvement District suggested the city purchase a four-wheeler with watering tanks to hydrate the trees downtown, a method noticed in other cities.

“I think looking at other communities on how they’ve solved the issue is a good step toward a solution,” said Price, the owner of Flathead Health and Fitness.

Another challenge the District brought up was the Valley Bank parking lot on Main Street.

Jon Fetveit, chairman of the Business Improvement District board, suggested implementing some landscape features in the lot in partnership with the Parks Department.

The lot is one of eight owned by the city containing 320 parking spaces. Council member Tim Kluesner suggested selling the lots off to private ownership.

“I don’t think the city needs to own any property aside from this building [City Hall], a fire department and a small parking lot for their employees,” Kluesner said.

Fetveit said the district simply wants to fill empty space downtown, giving it a more welcoming feeling. He offered a public and private partnership in developing the lot.

“Our only thought was when you drive downtown, you want it to look compact and walkable,” Fetveit said. “When you see big parking lots, it looks vacant.”

Traffic and parking were the next topics, with people considering how to address bottlenecked traffic on Main Street.

Pam Carbonari, coordinator for the Business Improvement District, said the completion of the U.S. 93 Alternate Route on the west side of town would open up a few options.

“As for Main Street, we’re excited about the bypass and what it might allow us to consider,” she said.

The board members and City Council are still looking for ways to suggest delivery trucks stay out of the downtown district and use the bypass. City planner Tom Jentz suggested reducing downtown traffic lanes from 14 feet to 11 feet, making it more difficult for trucks to travel through downtown.

Economic development was another goal, largely in considering what kind of businesses the city wants to bring and promote downtown.

Fetveit said some of the initial challenges are just figuring out how to market to those kinds of businesses that would be attracted to downtown.

“We still haven’t figured out how to do outbound marketing to those kinds of businesses,” Fetveit said. “We could use some help.”

Another development issue to be examined is fire suppression systems that still need to be implemented into older buildings yet to be developed by new businesses.

Both groups recognized the Kalispell Brewing Co. and the Toggery as primary drivers encouraging further development of the downtown area.

The final proposal by the business improvement representatives was investing in an entertainment district or location in the downtown area.

“To make the downtown a destination, we need a critical mass of options,” Fetveit said. “Whitefish and Bigfork have great options. If we can start driving towards a live performance venue, I think that would be huge.”

Council member Chad Graham suggested implementing a live performance venue in the upcoming core area development plan.

“If we put something in the core area development, I believe that would bleed down to a downtown area,” Graham said.

Carbonari said the district has been encouraged by the city’s tenacity in chasing the core area development plan. The City Council has already decided to move forward with the development plan with or without a federal grant that has been sought.

“The plan is moving forward, regardless,” Mayor Mark Johnson said. “It might take longer than originally planned but there is full support from the City Council.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.