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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-27-25 Public Comment - G. Mattson - Downtown Bozeman_ Yesterday, Today, TomorrowFrom:George Mattson Subject:[EXTERNAL]Downtown Bozeman: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Date:Friday, January 24, 2025 1:39:25 PM Attachments:1975 03 02 Chronicle.docx1975 03 09 Chronicle.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. In 1975 -- fifty years ago -- an enclosed mall was being built at Bozeman’s west end. Such malls had adversely affected, and even decimated, downtown businesses in some cities. In response to this concern, the local architectural society put on an all-day program, “Is Downtown Bozeman Worth Saving?” See attached. Downtown no longer has a department store, hospital, drug stores, a soda fountain, grocery stores, office supplies, auto dealerships, lumber yards, the National Guard, an escalator, or parking meters. Over the years historic architecture has been restored, and hotels, galleries, street trees, music, strolls, bites, art walks, a parking garage, and one-way streets have been added. How are businesses doing today? What is good about downtown? What could be better? What about parking? What about housing density? What about big box stores? What about the Northeast Neighborhood and the Cannery District? What’s happening at the Gallatin Valley Mall, and why? These topics will be aired at a gathering, Friday, February 28, 2025, 3:30-6:00 pm in the Baxter Ballroom. Everyone is welcome. This program is being hosted by the Baxter and held in consultation with the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. If you have questions, topic suggestions, would like to make brief remarks, or help in planning the February 28 program, let me know. George Mattson, Bozeman Architect 109 East Main (1971-1981), 27 East Main (1982-1991), 17 West Main (1992-2008) 406-587-3931 406-579-7213 MANY SUGGESTIONS OFFERED ON DOWNTOWN BOZEMAN By Marcia Krings, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 2, 1975 “Is Downtown Bozeman Worth Saving?” seemed to be a popular topic Friday [February 28, 1975] as residents packed the Baxter Hotel Ballroom to hear local panelists and out-of-town experts debate the issue. L. J. Davis, Brooklyn novelist and urban writer who authored “Tearing Down Boise” in November Harper’s, was the first main speaker. He spoke to an overflow crowd about failures and successes in downtown and warned against spending money to build highways and freeways just because the money is there, citing Madison, Wis., as a classic example of a city that ruined its downtown this way. Davis said “the auto as we know it today is doomed,” and advocated taking a close look at tearing down buildings to make space for more parked cars. “It doesn’t cost that much to tear down a building, but it costs quite a bit more to build it back up again,” he said in favor of renovation of current architecture. Davis is against too many open spaces such as plazas and malls because “they make marvelous battlefields.” He said Bozeman is in a marvelous position because most other cities have made their changes, for better or worse, at least 10 or 15 years ago. He called for a concentration of people in the downtown area, adding mass transit is one possibility of getting them there. Davis’ humor kept the audience alive throughout his talk. He ended by advocating a varying skyline and leaving old buildings. “Remember every town needs an eyesore because they’re very entertaining,” he quipped. [He cited the revolving horse marquee.] “They also help future planners to know what not to do.” Standing room only was available for the film, “Downtowns for People,” showing pleasurable downtowns in other areas. The 1 p.m. panel talking on “A Place for People in Bozeman’s Downtown?” featured a variety of brief talks by local people, which incited the large audience to many suggestions and questions. Pat Dawson, panelist, editor of the MSU Exponent, said to MSU students downtown Bozeman is a place where you spend your money and the businessmen take it, with no real sense of community. He said he feels MSU students would prefer more cultural activities downtown, a quaint atmosphere, and in general more human oriented conditions. He was not in favor of tearing down old buildings, noting his hometown Helena had “urban removal” instead of urban renewal when the city embarked on a Model City campaign a few years ago. Rancher Jim Paugh said any changes in downtown Bozeman should consider people who come to shop, making a few quick stops. He said he didn’t favor blocking off part of Main for a mall because there has to be a ready access to accommodate people who need to get something and be on their way in a hurry. “One of the attributes in this community are the mountains and sunshine and I’d hate to put a top over Main Street blocking them out,” he said in reference to proposals of a covered mall. Vern Koelzer, local businessman, spoke out against unused previous studies on the downtown area, among other things. “My first thoughts concern two expensive studies paid for by the taxpayers during the last two years on growth and development in our city,” he said. “What happened to them?” He charged Bozeman businessmen have “a very conceited apathetic idea that people have to shop here, so here I am, great big me.” He said what Bozeman needs most is understanding and cooperation among merchants, which can best be done through the Chamber of Commerce. [The Downtown Bozeman Association had yet to be established.] Bill Henley, an MSU architecture student, said community life has all but been forgotten in Bozeman. He called for downtown Bozeman to be a central focal point for community awareness and activities. Pierce Mullen, Chairman of the Department of History, Government and Philosophy at MSU, said town planning is essentially a process of getting obligations into some kind of alignment. He said town planning is very old, noting William Penn laid out Philadelphia in 1776 and in his lifetime the alleys were already coming in. He said downtown Bozeman is a self image of the people here and there will be no real change unless the residents themselves change it. Marilyn Wessel of the Women’s Political Caucus talked about the role of women in Bozeman’s downtown, noting 34 percent of Gallatin County women work. If they aren’t working, they are doing volunteer work, according to studies. She said the day of the genteel woman who just shops for recreation is over, noting women will select a shopping combination that affords the most convenience in the way of parking, goods, and other conveniences, which adds up to shopping centers. She suggested interest in downtown could be helped by making it a focal point for women, such as having a nice library and a place for public meetings. She said downtown merchants should be open at night. “Women go to a shopping center partly because the stores are open at night,” she said. “Many work during the day and getting babysitting is easier at night, too.” She suggested downtown stores remain competitive in hours with shopping centers or consider providing some kind of day care center for shoppers. Dave Vaughan, businessman said, “I’m a bit appalled at the lack of attendance of businessmen from downtown. The crowd appears to be a mixture of citizens from teens to the elderly. He called for improvements of a cosmetic nature, such as planters along the sidewalks, getting rid of neon signs, and planter flower beds in corners of parking lots. [There were no street trees at this time.] The panelists invited much audience comment. Mullen noted traffic lights crossing Main Street are so fast old people can’t make it across. An older man suggested businesses should do a better job of shoveling sidewalks. Mullen also noted it’s odd there are no steps going up in most bars, yet senior citizens centers and rest homes have several steps. [The Bozeman Senior Center had a second floor location above present-day Schnees on Main .] This evoked a comment from Davis who said, “Americans will go to almost any length to accommodate a nuisance. This is sheer idiocy to have senior citizens climbing steps, although it’s nice the cowboys aren’t falling down steps when they come out of the bars.” Several persons suggested making alleys more attractive, and moderator George Mattson said Bozeman’s alleys have a lot of character and should be left architecturally alone. The 3 o’clock speaker, James Pepper, environmental studies professor from the University of California at Santa Cruz commented, “I’ve heard a set of the right questions here and you should use local talent because there’s a lot of good common sense in this community. Other audience response revolved around the sign issue. Dawson from MSU commented the worst offenders are out-of-state companies. “You don’t see a big bucket of chicken hanging in front of the Oaks Bar,” he said. [The Oaks, a revered bar, now, sadly gone.] Pepper, in his prepared talk and slide show on a successful downtown mall in Santa Cruz, said flush signs are much more appealing because people don’t look up in the air 10 feet to see signs. He also said because Bozeman has severe seasonal changes it should look to other towns with a similar climate for comparison of what can be done. He said, “For too many years, too many communities have put too much stock in executive planning, without input from the people. I would argue you need to help each other and you need to understand each other. “In my analysis, Bozeman is decades behind the times for creating urban blight. In California, many have come full circle, eradicating their downtowns and now are trying to find them again. A real downtown is far superior and Bozeman has all the ingredients to build a people’s downtown.” A panel later in the afternoon spoke on “What Next Bozeman,” and featured three out-of-town speakers, Eric Hefty, chairman of the Missoula Civic Center Implementation Committee; Shirley Zupan, Red Lodge businesswoman; and Richard Shope, president of the Helena Planning Board.. Hefty said in Missoula, strict shopping center zoning has eliminated two proposed centers. Shope said Helena got caught up in federal funds and cautioned, “When you go after government funds you always pay a price for them. A little bit of urban renewal is kind of like being a little bit pregnant.” Zupan said Red Lodge has a problem of apathy in getting people together to work on any type of civic project. She called for better communication to get things done. Frank Bryan, political science professor from MSU, said local government and business should learn how to work together. Harry Hummel, an MSU student, said he feels Bozeman is broken into two separate forces, the community and the university. Chamber of Commerce President Don Langohr said, regarding federal funds, in some instances Bozeman can’t ignore them, referring to the proposed one-way couplet which is dependent on federal monies. [This was done later: Babcock one-way east, Mendenhall one-way west.] He said traffic lights across Main Street allow people eight seconds of walking time, which has a psychological effect on people, especially senior citizens. “We haven’t lost downtown Bozeman and we seem to be holding our own,” he said. The day-long discussion continued after dinner with a talk by California architect Charles Callister. The conference was sponsored by the Fred Willson Architectural Society [Bozeman architects] and the Montana Committee for the Humanities. QUESTIONNAIRES DRAW IDEAS ON DOWNTOWN By Marcia Krings, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 9, 1975 Bozeman residents have some definite ideas on what they want done with downtown Bozeman if the 57 questionnaires filled out at last week’s workshop on downtown Bozeman are a criteria. The questionnaires were tabulated by George Mattson, coordinator of the day-long workshop which drew a couple of hundred participants, and will be distributed to downtown merchants and the city fathers for perusal. The survey had seven parts. Part one was a general question regarding parking in downtown Bozeman. The biggest vote getter was to increase parking slightly by removing most decrepit old buildings along alleys and side streets. A question on new restrictions on construction in the flood zone portions of downtown showed a definite trend towards seeking variances form the restrictions to allow reasonable upgrading and renovation. That box received 51 checks, the most of any suggestions. Those filling out the survey could check as many answers as they wished. A category that assumed sufficient additional parking had been build, received the most applause in requiring downtown employees to park in less convenient parking, one or two blocks away. The question as to what can be done with Main Street got various responses. The most was reducing it to two lanes of traffic and providing it with landscaping and pedestrian resting places. That suggestion was followed by closing it to traffic and providing an attractive landscaped open mall. Few favored leaving it as is, or making a completely enclosed mall out of the street. Regarding general improvements that could be made downtown, the biggest vote getter was retaining and refurbishing old buildings and storefronts in keeping with their original style to give variety and maintain a relation to our past. That answer got 46 checks. Following with 41 was the option of competing with outlying shopping areas by providing a more pleasant, enjoyable shopping environment. Thirty-nine marks were received to require property owners to submit plans to a community appearances board composed of businessmen and architects which would advise the City Commission on whether the project should be approved, the commission to make the final decision, similar to zoning matters. Also favored were zoning regulations, taxation and building codes being revised so development is equally attractive to an investor in downtown as in outlying areas; discouragement of strip development; limiting growth in some reasonable means, such as with a “green belt” of agricultural or park land around the city, and using city-wide tax money to improve downtown Bozeman. A large portion of the survey dealt with facilities that should be encouraged or discourage for downtown Bozeman. Receiving mostly favorable votes were facilities for the elderly and children, government offices, small park-like facilities, a new library, a farmers market, hotels and motels, ice skating, commercial and professional offices, a post office, an outdoor café, bazaar space for temporary shop stalls, farm and ranch suppliers, space for outdoor concerts, theatrical productions and festivals and nighttime uses. Getting mostly no votes were auto sales, the Army Reserve, National Guard, discount stores, and service stations. A split in opinion developed on apartments, churches, a teen center and a convention center. Participants were free with the pen under “additional comments, criticisms and suggestions. Several favored pedestrian level store identification, public day care, restrooms and a better library. One said, “We should rescue Sourdough Creek, for a mall type shopping plaza,” and another suggested “opening up the creek, if possible, why hide it underground?” Other suggestions included a 10 miles per hour speed limit on Main, and “Teach us to walk and ride bikes.” One writer wanted better road cleaning. Someone said side streets should be used a small landscaped malls. Several came up with idea of parking cars in areas other than downtown, and taking public transportation to the downtown area. One person wrote, “Downtown does not belong to the merchants. The only priority should not be to get into the store.” The same commented, “Downtown is not just a big warehouse. It’s a place for a community to function.” The critic also suggested a more unique atmosphere for Bozeman restaurants, noting “there is a sameness in all of Bozeman’s establishments.” Mattson commented that he feels the most important point brought out in the day-long discussion, which featured several speakers and panels, is that the citizens are perhaps better planners than the professionals. Plans are in the mill for an informal group of citizens meeting over lunch once a week to mull suggestions. [These meetings did take place over a period of time in the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce Office.] BOZEMAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE COLUMN Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 9, 1975 [This column appeared in the Chronicle directly below the article above.] By Guy Sperry, [Chamber] Manager The downtown of any city is very important to the continued progress of that city. The downtown is the heart and hub. For years the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce had advocated for the refurbishing of our downtown. No one wants to visit or do business in a “doughnut” city, a city with a hole in the center. Progress in downtown Bozeman has been slow, as it has in all downtowns across the nation. Many cities waited until their downtowns were slums and then they had to tear down and start over. This makes the cost considerably higher. Bozeman still has the opportunity to save the downtown, but time is short. Downtown is not only a location, a place of business, it is a state of mind and pride. Let’s keep our pride up. The Chamber of Commerce will act as a clearing house for ideas, an information center for facts and a coordination office for action to save our downtown. The Chamber Office is located at 129 West Main Street. [Presently the Jewelry Studio west of John Bozeman’s Bistro.] The mailing address is P.O. Box B. The telephone number is 586-5421.