Boarding house proposed for seasonal workforce

A plan has emerged to convert the former Whitefish Independent High School building into a boarding house for seasonal workers in the hospitality industry.

Reisch Family Partnership is asking the city of Whitefish for a conditional-use permit to develop an eight-room boarding house with an onsite manager at 625 Park Ave. near Whitefish High School. The boarding house would accommodate a maximum of 34 full- and part-time workers.

The Whitefish Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the request at its Dec. 12 meeting.

“Hospitality establishments in the Whitefish resort community are experiencing a shortage of seasonal workers and one key element of this shortage is the unmet need in available and affordable short-term to medium-term housing,” the Reisch Family Partnership stated in its permit application.

The building was constructed in the 1960s and used as a medical clinic for a number of years. It was purchased by the Whitefish School District about 16 years ago for use as an alternative high school until Whitefish High School was reconstructed and expanded a couple of years ago. The school district sold the Park Avenue facility in 2014, and the Independent High School moved to the main high school.

Hurraw!, a vegan lip-balm manufacturer, had eyed the building to expand its operation but was denied a permit to operate as a home-based business.

The building currently is vacant.

The Reisch Family Partnership’s most recent business development project in Whitefish was the Montana Tap House, which opened earlier this year on Wisconsin Avenue.

The Whitefish Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 at the interim City Hall, 1005 Baker Ave. in Whitefish.