13-ton coffee kiosk lands at South Kalispell Town Pump
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Town Pump!
Motorists fueling up at the South Kalispell gas station off U.S. 93 on the snowy afternoon of March 13 caught a glimpse of a 13-ton structure resembling a shipping container being hoisted into the air by crane.
The new Stone House Company Coffee kiosk, owned by Town Pump, was built off-site by Russo Modular at its facility in Phoenix, Arizona, shipped via trucks and assembled at its new home in Kalispell.
The 26,000-pound kiosk was hooked to a crane, lifted off the back of the truck and carefully lowered into place so it aligned with the foundation. An air-conditioning unit was then set on top, followed by the 3,000-pound roof, which was fitted neatly into place like a Lego block.
The prefabricated kiosk is the first of its kind for the Montana-based convenience store chain, but more are planned for Bozeman and Bonner.
The increasingly popular off-site building method shaved construction time by about six months, according to Aaron White, manufacturing manager for Russo Modular.
Because the foundation work and the building’s construction could happen in tandem, the overall timeline was much shorter. Manufacturing the kiosk took about 80 days, White said.
“Three months to get the site ready, three months to get the building [ready], we're working hand in hand with the general contractor so that as soon as he was ready, the building arrives,” White said.
The kiosk should be open in a matter of weeks because its interior was also fully constructed off-site.
Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 406-758-4407 or junderhill@dailyinterlake.com. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.





