HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-30-23 Public Comment - M. Ryan - Public Comment on the Site Plan for BG MillFrom:McKenna Ryan
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment on the Site Plan for BG Mill
Date:Saturday, October 28, 2023 1:00:24 PM
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Hello-
I am a resident in Bozeman living in the brewery historic district and a renter. I was walking
today and noticed the sign for proposed demolition to the BG Mill to make condos. WhileBozeman needs additional, affordable housing for the growing community, I would like to see
that the BG Mill- that I've seen as inspiration for art and is a historic reminder of Bozeman'spast- be preserved in greater form than only keeping the 2 silos (which in the proposal is a
hope, not a guarantee).
Admittedly, I don't know all the ins and outs of historical preservation but I would love to seeand hope to see the exterior preserved of this building, which currently is not the plan
proposed. Is there a way that you could keep the exterior and rework the inside of thebuilding? This could be an awesome community gathering space opportunity and that could
keep the exterior of such an iconic building intact. I know that would likely be moreexpensive and less profitable- but I think that preserving the historic character and history of
this town helps create a blended way to bridge history and the current town.
This being a commercial space or multi-use space with the exterior preserved could be a wayto open this space to the whole community rather than having it only as private residences as
well. I apologize if commercial space is in the proposed plan- it was hard to find informationupon following the link provided on the piece of paper, there were a lot of documents to sort
through and I couldn't find information on that. But in summary I'd like to see 1. the biggestwin in my mind would be keeping the exterior preserved (or reworking it to preserve the
historical integrity) and 2. having a community-focused portion to the building that can beused as a public gathering space (a restaurant, brewery, offices for community orgs, etc).
I used to live in Minnesota and there was a similar old milling district near my university that I
always loved the historic character of, but the old buildings were sitting vacant. I was worriedthat they would demolish the spaces to make way for new buildings but I was excited when
they preserved the older buildings exteriors and reworked the inside to create a communitygathering space. This area was called "The Market" at Malcom Yards in Minnesota and it has
become a really popular area for folks to meet people, eat food, and be in community. Ithought that was a really cool way to bring life to a historic area of town. Another spot I in
Minnesota that does this is the Casket Arts building which houses some offices but keeps thehistoric structure intact.
I don't think having the space be partially residential is a bad thing! But I'd like to see the
exterior preserved as once it's demolished, that living piece of history is gone. I think living ina community where you can see the history while living in the present is really neat and that's
something I really love about Bozeman, and particularly being and living in the area neardowntown. There's something really special about seeing the history of the building's
exteriors and seeing the vibrancy of the community- and something I think others are really
drawn to as well.
Did you consider keeping the entire exterior/preserving the integrity further of the building? Ithink I saw it mentioned that it 'wasn't possible'- could you expand further on that? Is there a
way to rework the exterior to look like it was historically/keep the character?
I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate having a public comment period to be ableto voice this and be in conversation-
Kenna