HomeMy WebLinkAboutGuest Editorial with Kirchhoff 2008The fate of the Story Mansion has been in limbo for far too long, and Bozeman’s residents are understandably frustrated. The issues surrounding the final disposition of this historic
property are complicated and determining the best course of action has been difficult.
The City has owned the mansion for five years and has been a good steward of it. Since taking ownership of the buildings and grounds, the city has improved and enhanced them. And yet
many in our community are weary of seeing the mansion and carriage house sit empty. They want to see them being used.
We believe we speak for many when we ask the City Commission to take a different course of action than the one they are on right now. We urge the commission to fund a strategic use master
plan with Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant money to find out what the best use of the mansion is—whether it be public, private, or a public-private partnership.
It's truly incredible, and not at all helpful, that in five years the City has not undertaken a factual, scientific, objective, and reliable strategic use plan to indicate which use
of the mansion will be best in securing its long-term preservation. It should have been done, and it needs to be done now.
There may be some objection in your minds to doing a study now. Isn’t it too late? Isn’t it just going to slow things down more? Won’t it just delay action and keep the community waiting
longer to see the buildings and property used?
We don’t believe this approach is a step backwards. Nothing prevents the city from following a two-pronged approach. The first prong is the strategic use plan we’ve already mentioned.
The second is using SAT grant money to make repairs to the mansion that will be useful to future owners, be they private or public or a combination of the two.
The City should allocate the lion’s share of SAT money on rehabilitation efforts, focusing on such things as energy conservation, upgrading heating, electrical, and plumbing systems,
and addressing health and safety concerns. These improvements will benefit any future owner, whether from the private or public sector.
The City could also set aside a small portion of the SAT money to finance an objective and detailed strategic use master plan that honestly considers the merits and drawbacks of three
broad scenarios for the Mansion—strictly public use, strictly private use, and combined use. This study could occur simultaneously with
the rehabilitation work outlined above, thus resulting in no additional delays in determining the best future owner of the property.
Among the advantages of this approach are the following: 1) the City will use SAT monies in a timely fashion and thus best ensure the Mansion’s long-term preservation; 2) the master
plan will provide concrete data that will provide an informed basis for debate and a tangible guideline for future decisions; and 3) the two-pronged approach will help to restore public
confidence in the project.
Because the Story Mansion contributes so much to our community, it is too significant a property to fall victim to stubborn political in-fighting and misinformation that such fighting
inevitably creates. While it is unfortunate that so much time has been lost, it would be far worse to stall further, to forfeit the Save America’s Treasures grant, or to proceed blindly
without a clearly defined and workable game plan in place.
We believe the approach outlined in this letter is worth pursuing and we encourage the City Commission to take appropriate steps to put it into action.
Steve Kirchoff
Derek Strahn