Historically the railroad tracks through Kalispell were the center of the local economy, but as the city has evolved over the past century those tracks became an impediment to growth. City leaders 10 years ago embarked on a plan to transform the urban rail corridor into a multi-use pedestrian path envisioning a new future for the downtown core.

Now the defunct rail line has become the Parkline Trail – a modern-day focal point aimed at revitalizing downtown to attract redevelopment of businesses and housing along the corridor, all the while providing recreation opportunities and community gathering spots in green spaces along the trail.

Mayor Mark Johnson has called it “the most transformative project in the next 100 years” in Kalispell.

A linear park through town, the Parkline Trail runs for a 1.6-mile stretch connecting Meridian Road to Woodland Park. Construction on the $8 million trail project began in May 2021, but laying the groundwork began well before and involved a much broader vision.

Kalispell City Manager Doug Russell said the Parkline Trail is the representative of a project that moves the area of Kalispell from an industrial past into the future of community connectivity.

“From an overall perspective the trail opens up avenues,” Russell said. “For transportation, it provides pedestrian and bike access, but it also provides commercial and residential opportunities. It’s a shift from what it was to what it’s going to be.”

The community will gather on Thursday, July 21 in an event hosted by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the opening of the Parkline Trail. Events will take place throughout the day culminating in a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony and remarks from dignitaries at 5:30 p.m., at the Parkline Linear Park Plaza between Main Street and First Avenue north of Depot Park.

REDEVELOPING THE rail corridor has been the topic of discussion since around 2010 among the Kalispell City Council, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and the Flathead County Economic Development Authority.

“Community visionaries recognized years ago how the removal of the railroad ties and tracks and the relocation of key businesses along the line to the new rail park would be the catalyst to redeveloping the core of Kalispell,” commented Kalispell Chamber President and CEO Lorraine Clarno. “It was a monumental task resulting in what we see today.”

Russell cites the community support of the project as vital to its completion.

“It shows the dynamic nature of a municipality to be able to shift and change going into the future,” he said. “The community really got behind this project and without that community effort, it wouldn’t have been able to adapt and overcome obstacles along the way. The project is a testament to the community support.”

THOUGH THE trail is the visual representation of years of efforts, the past decade of work on the trail corridor has concentrated on the not-as-obvious necessities of the plan — acquiring the right of way to use the railroad, environmental assessments of the neighboring properties and design work for converting the railroad tracks into a trail. Beyond the trail itself, the project has always been intended as a catalyst for reshaping the city for the future.

The adoption in 2012 of the Kalispell Core Area Plan put that dream into writing by focusing on the rail corridor located north of the downtown. “Once a vibrant industrial center of Kalispell, there is a sense that the Core Area has since lost its way,” the executive summary for the document says. “Through this plan, Kalispell is setting a course to introduce sustainable redevelopment in the Core Area.”

The vision outlined in the plan was to revitalize the roughly 360-acre neighborhood in the area to transform it from an industrially-oriented center into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood focusing on retail, residential, entertainment and cultural amenities designed to complement the historic downtown area.

But the Parkline Trail is just the beginning. Russell says the project until this point has been dedicated to creating infrastructure but now is when the anchor point that is the trail becomes realized as it spurs further projects.

“This is a huge achievement,” Russell said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project and the trail is a great culmination of the work that’s taken place, but now is the time to look forward to what may come. It’s time to let the private market take care of the rest through housing and community development.”

THE RAILROAD tracks cutting through the area were restricting development and by one estimate leaving at least 44 acres of land undeveloped or underdeveloped. Still, the two remaining railroad-dependent companies in the area needed to be relocated.

The board of FCEDA decided to pursue improvement of transportation infrastructure by purchasing land on which to construct Glacier Rail Park, an industrial park for rail-served businesses that reached substantial completion in 2019. The goal of the rail park was to improve the efficiency of existing freight rail operations by relocating operations to the facility and eliminating the need for the rail line to bisect the community.

Then in 2015, the Montana Department of Transportation awarded the project a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for transportation infrastructure and development of the industrial park where the remaining commercial rail users were relocated.

Under its connection with FCEDA, Montana West Economic Development has been one of the partners working involved in the larger project.

Christy Cummings Dawson, President and CEO of MWED, said removing the tracks from downtown was important to improving the flow of downtown, but also opening up the opportunity for businesses in the core area.

“Once that was able to happen it really facilitated the beginning of the redevelopment of the area and connecting the east and west sides of town,” she said. “It’s exciting to see so many decades of work by many partners come together.”

FCEDA purchased two properties along the former railway from CHS, Inc. and began environmental cleanup of the sites before selling both to private developers last year. Work is underway at Fifth Avenue West and Center Street to turn defunct grain silos into a mixed-use residential and commercial area featuring roughly 230 apartments, bars, restaurants, a hotel, retail space and parking.

WITH THE rail-dependent businesses relocated from downtown, the project moved into the second major phase, removing the tracks through Kalispell. In the spring of 2021, the city broke ground on the new path and linear park that make up Parkline Trail.

Even before the completion of the trail, some businesses have chosen to open up shop along and nearby the pathway, or those already there have reinvested in their property.

“Many businesses had faith that the trail would come to fruition,” Cummings Dawson said. “It will be exciting to see how this continues to bring changes to downtown.”

Now with the trail open walkers, joggers and bikers are enjoying the trail.

And it still remains to be seen how the redevelopment potential along the trail may be utilized in the future.

Watching the redevelopment already underway, Clarno is optimistic for the future of what the tail may spur.

“The Parkline Trail is an asset the community and visitors will use to connect east and west Kalispell to downtown for decades to come,” she said. “We are confident we will see many events in the future on and along the trail.”

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or [email protected].