HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-30-23 Public Comment - M. Ryan - Re_ Public Comment on the Site Plan for BG MillFrom:McKenna Ryan
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL][WARNING: ATTACHMENT UNSCANNED]Re: Public Comment on the Site Plan for BG Mill
Date:Saturday, October 28, 2023 1:14:51 PM
Attachments:BGMill.HEIC
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In your proposed plan, you only potentially keep the 2 silos but it would be really cool to seethe two silos and the left side next to the silos intact (the taller portion), as I feel like both are
very iconic and would help keep the historic feel while potentially giving more room with thesmaller buildings to be reworked. Just another thought.
Continuing the conversation,
Kenna
On Sat, Oct 28, 2023 at 1:00 PM McKenna Ryan <mckenna.paige.ryan@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello-
I am a resident in Bozeman living in the brewery historic district and a renter. I was walkingtoday and noticed the sign for proposed demolition to the BG Mill to make condos. While
Bozeman needs additional, affordable housing for the growing community, I would like tosee that the BG Mill- that I've seen as inspiration for art and is a historic reminder of
Bozeman's past- be preserved in greater form than only keeping the 2 silos (which in theproposal is a hope, not a guarantee).
Admittedly, I don't know all the ins and outs of historical preservation but I would love to
see and hope to see the exterior preserved of this building, which currently is not the planproposed. Is there a way that you could keep the exterior and rework the inside of the
building? This could be an awesome community gathering space opportunity and that couldkeep the exterior of such an iconic building intact. I know that would likely be more
expensive and less profitable- but I think that preserving the historic character and history ofthis 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
way to open this space to the whole community rather than having it only as privateresidences as well. I apologize if commercial space is in the proposed plan- it was hard to
find information upon following the link provided on the piece of paper, there were a lot ofdocuments to sort through and I couldn't find information on that. But in summary I'd like
to see 1. the biggest win in my mind would be keeping the exterior preserved (or reworkingit to preserve the historical integrity) and 2. having a community-focused portion to the
building that can be used as a public gathering space (a restaurant, brewery, offices forcommunity 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 wasworried that 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 acommunity gathering 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 bein community. I thought 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 someoffices but keeps the historic 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 livingin a 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 areanear downtown. 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 reallydrawn to as well.
Did you consider keeping the entire exterior/preserving the integrity further of the building?
I think I saw it mentioned that it 'wasn't possible'- could you expand further on that? Is therea 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
able to voice this and be in conversation-
Kenna