City OK’s Boys and Girls Club project, RAISE project
The club plans to purchase about three acres adjacent to St. Richard Catholic Church. (Hungry Horse News FILE)
Columbia Falls City Council last week approved two key infrastructure projects.
The first was a subdivision for the new Boys and Girls Club facility, which the organization hopes to someday build adjacent to St. Richard Catholic Church.
The approval of the subdivision is a key step in developing the property. The club can now move forward with installing sewer and water to the wedge-shaped piece of land it purchased next to the church.
As planned, the new facility will be about 24,000 square feet with a gym, commercial kitchen, classrooms and other amenities.
The club last year sought a roughly $600,000 state Community Development Block Grant. But because the site lacked infrastructure, the state turned the grant down for the time being.
Freedom Bank has guaranteed a line of credit of $299,000 to install the infrastructure.
The future building with its amenities is expected to cost about $5 million when it’s completed.
IN ANOTHER large infrastructure project, City Council approved an agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for the municipality's $10 million RAISE grant.
The project is formally called the “Columbia Falls Gateway to Glacier Safety and Mobility Improvement Project.” It runs down 13th Street West from 12th Avenue West down to Fourth Avenue West, then Fourth Avenue West north to Third Street West and the Truck Route.
It also includes Seventh Street West to the Truck Route.
The city will match the federal grant with $500,000 from its water fund.
The project will take a year to design with construction expected in the summer of 2025. The project will improve all the above mentioned roads with new surfacing, sidewalks and will replace aging water lines that serve those streets.