A well-known Bigfoot researcher and his investment company are on track to build a $25 million, multi-story hotel complex in East Glacier that will house the largest Bigfoot museum in the world along with a live theater, conference center, retail store, restaurant and lounge.

Tom Biscardi, the president and chief executive officer of Bigfoot Project Investments Inc., has partnered with Bill and Carol Stewart, who own the Dancing Bears Inn in the center of East Glacier. That lodging facility will be razed to make room for the 100-plus room Bigfoot hotel.

Bigfoot Project Investments Chief Financial Officer Sara Reynolds said the company is in the process of obtaining a building permit from the Blackfeet Tribe. Because it’s tribal land, no other formal planning approval is needed, she said.

Construction is expected to begin early next year, Reynolds said.

Biscardi is also connected to another development project in the East Glacier area that involves the construction of a 100-foot tepee near the Canadian border. The structure will showcase the history and use of the buffalo by the Blackfeet nation and is being built by a Blackfeet tribal member, Reynolds said. Biscardi is contracting with the tepee developer to build a 50-room hotel, restaurant, lounge and gasoline service center alongside the tepee museum and merchandise center.

Biscardi has produced several Bigfoot films and videos that revolve around his extensive search for the creature known as Bigfoot. He also is the creator and host of the “Bigfoot Live” show, a live podcast covering new Bigfoot sightings, encounters, news and expedition updates.

He told the Daily Inter Lake he has spent the past 12 years searching lands in Montana and the East Glacier area in particular. Biscardi said the Blackfeet Tribe has many stories about Bigfoot, some of which have been handed down from generation to generation, including information about a possible location of a Bigfoot burial cave in the mountains near East Glacier.

“One of these stories is from a Native American that shot one of these creatures from his porch,” Biscardi said. “The creature had been harassing the family for a period of time. He was protecting his family because they were in fear for their lives. After it went down another creature came out of the woods and cradled the wounded creature in its arms then carried it off.”

The family presented photographic evidence of the encounter to Biscardi and his team, he said, adding that the evidence was sent to the lab and returned as authentic.

A second story was from a “very credible” Homeland Security border patrol agent who saw a large, hairy bi-pedal creature that left large impressions in the snow going toward a cave.

Bicardi said his Searching for Bigfoot team will work out of the East Glacier hotel facility, providing periodic Bigfoot expeditions for people interested searching for the elusive creatures.

The East Glacier area is a Bigfoot migrational route, Biscardi said. He said there is high interest from other American Indian sovereign nations that also have passed down stories about Bigfoot and are interested in having a facility similar to the one planned in East Glacier.

“There’s such a large interest,” Biscardi said. “We have a bond with the legends they all possess. They’re saying, ‘oh my gosh, we’d love to multiply’ what we’re doing here. We’re trying to create a tourist destination, to boost the economy.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.