Mayor John Muhlfeld cut the ceremonial ribbon Monday afternoon for the new Whitefish City Hall.

During his proclamation officially opening the building, Muhlfeld said it represents the largest civic project ever completed by the city of Whitefish.

“This important project centralizes, and makes the delivery of governmental services to city taxpayers and residents, more efficient,” he said. “I urge all residents of Whitefish to celebrate this accomplishment, and more importantly, to make time to participate in their government, because active public participation and citizen engagement brings much value and transparency to the work we do as your elected officials.”

Muhlfeld said the building is a testament to the community and the foresight of those who have been planning for more than 30 years to construct a new City Hall downtown.

“We recognize that the core of our town needs to be in the downtown,” Muhlfeld said. “To support our arts, our theater, our civic government, as well as the institutions and retail businesses we support in our downtown.”

Tours of the new building were given prior to the ribbon cutting, and cupcake and cookies were served.

Monday’s ceremony marked the end of the 20-month construction of the project and dedication of the $16 million City Hall and attached parking structure.

A time capsule was placed in the cornerstone of the building with the expectation that it won’t be opened for at least a century.

Councilor Richard Hildner led efforts to assemble items to be included in the time capsule. Among the items included are a Whitefish Mountain Resort ski pass, a railroad spike, a picture of the Whitefish High School class of 2017, and bricks from the historic and new City Hall buildings.

“What we hope this represents is our past, present and hope for the future,” Hildner said. “Hopefully this will give a clue to future generations of who we were in 2017.”

Building progress

The historic day has been a longtime in coming and though the process was shorter in 1917 with the original City Hall, the decisions to build the new building seem to mimic that original progression.

The original City Hall building was the topic of discussion in February of 1917, and by May that year the city council made the decisions to move forward with construction.

“Whitefish will be enabled to hold its position as an up-to-date and enterprising city,” the Pilot reported at the time.

“The new location is not yet determined, but it is understood that the corner of Second Street and Baker will be chosen. The building will in all probability be of brick.”

By January of 1918, City Hall was completed and the first council meeting was held in the building in February.

The new City Hall building took longer to come to fruition than its historical predecessor.

A 2006 downtown master plan identified the need for a new City Hall and suggested a spot north of the library as the preferred site. The city then had just $1.5 million set aside for the project.

Later the idea of a “green” City Hall with a roof-top garden was explored, but eventually shelved because of the cost.

A city committee in 2011 began looking for potential sites for the new building and a public process showed that the community wanted the new City Hall in the same spot it’s been since 1918.

Years of discussion led up to a final vote before City Council in September 2012. Mayor John Muhlfeld broke a tie vote between councilors in favor of constructing a new City Hall at the corner of Baker and Second Street, essentially setting the stage to begin the project.

Construction of the new City Hall began in earnest in October 2015 with the demolition of the historic City Hall building. Folks looking to hold onto a piece of history claimed bricks from the original structure and other items salvaged from the interior — among the quirky items were seven sets of jail bars from the 1918 jail.

By May of 2017, the new City Hall was completed and the first council meeting held in the new building on the first Monday in June.

Construction

The construction of the new City Hall and parking structure was a 20-month process.

Following a design competition, Council selected Mosaic Architecture of Helena as the architect for the project that also includes the attached parking structure. Later Martel Construction of Bigfork was chosen as the general contractor.

Council spent months wrestling with the design of the building splitting votes on items such as whether to have a chamfered corner or a square corner on the main entrance of the building.

Council in June 2015 approved a $14.95 million budget for the combined City Hall and parking structure, but ultimately the budget was bumped to $16 million as the result of unsuitable soil conditions, contaminated soil and rising prices for materials and labor. While the City Hall portion of the project remained on-budget, the parking structure drove increases.

To pay for the project, the city is using the tax-increment finance fund, which allows for the reserve of increases in property taxes collections within a district to be diverted to infrastructure improvements and civic projects within the district. In addition, the city created a downtown special improvement district that levies an assessment on businesses to pay for maintenance of the parking structure.

Historic design

The architectural design of the original brick City Hall and the new brick City Hall have many similarities.

Before the original City Hall building was remodeled in the 1950s, the building had distinct architectural features. As local historian Mary Tombrink-Harris pointed out in a 2013 Pilot piece, the building “reflected Georgian architecture with a symmetrical front, a center entry front door with panels and a decorative crown over the door.” Dentil brick decorated the cornice of the building.

A bell tower was removed when the metal façade was added in the mid-1950s, Tombrink-Harris noted, and located on Baker Avenue at what was the location of the old fire hall.

Several elements in the new City Hall building are reminiscent of the historic building or have other ties to Whitefish, according to longtime Whitefish community organizer and business owner Rhonda Fitzgerald.

The red bricks match the original City Hall bricks, which were made at Whitefish’s Hoffman brickyard. The curved archways of the windows are a reference to the original building and on the second floor windows with stone sills and lintels are similar to the original building and others in Whitefish.

A standalone tower for the fire siren was a prominent feature of the historic building and a similar tower is part of the new building on the Baker Avenue side housing what is now called the curfew siren.

The entry lights to the building match the city’s decorative street lights and interior metal work matches the city’s streetscape furnishings. In addition, the metal work and exterior trim are painted in the same Great Northern Railway green.

Public art

The Heart of Whitefish merchant association led a fundraising effort to ensure that historic photographs would be a part of the new City Hall.

The history of Whitefish is illustrated through historic black and white photographs displayed throughout the new building. Photographs by Marion Lacy, R.E. Marble and Ed Gilliand showcase Whitefish’s natural environment and its history. The photos are street scenes, vistas, buildings, railroad, timber and recreation that make up the fabric of Whitefish.

On the exterior near the entry into the building, a space has also been saved for an art piece being created by Stumptown Art Studio and paid for by private donations. Artist Charity Flowers created the design, which calls for fused glass tiles and patina steel to be placed in a mosaic background between the red bricks. Six bronze-cast three-dimensional whitefish about a foot is size will swim up the background. The 18-inch wide column will be lighted, giving the art a different look in the day and night as the glass reflects the light.