Looking Back: Iron Horse subdivision allowed to more than double in size
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 2 days, 20 hours AGO
David Boye and his dog, Daisy, out for a paddle in 2016 on Whitefish Lake. (Matt Baldwin photo)
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
May 6, 1976
At the conclusion of a two year federally funded study titled “Flathead Drainage 208 Project,” a water quality management plan would be implemented to preserve the high quality of Montana water sources and to upgrade those that need it. Under the Water Pollution Control Act, regulations would be enforced nationwide to prevent pollution of national water sources. “Now is the time when the people can have a say in exactly what these regulations will be,” emphatically stated Virginia Burns, in charge of public relations for the project locally.
40 Years Ago
May 7, 1986
When Sally Christensen saw the smoke billowing out of the old Bissell School building on Farm to Market Road and heard a whoosh when she approached the school yard, she feared the building would be lost. But through a chain of contacts, Christiansen and her father, Jim Hutchens got word to the Whitefish Fire Department, and the fire was extinguished. Damage was contained to the basement of the wooden building. Smoke damage was reported in the library and kindergarten room upstairs. School was cancelled Monday for the kindergarteners, and other classes began at 11 a.m. No one was injured by the smoldering fire.
30 Years Ago
May 9, 1996
After a discussion that began Monday night and ended in the early morning hours of Tuesday, a 1.3 square mile subdivision received approval from the Whitefish City Council. The council voted 4 to 1 to allow Montana Capital Partners to expand the Iron Horse subdivision from 392 to 818 acres. Sandwiched between the Sun Crest subdivision and Ptarmigan Village, the subdivision is roughly twice the size of Whitefish's original townsite which encompassed the city's gridded street system. Councilor Jan Metzmaker was the only voting member who opposed the expansion.
20 Years Ago
May 4, 2006
The bad news was that higher energy costs and lower consumer confidence would affect the number of visitors expected to come to Montana this year. The good news was that the state would see 2% more visitors than last year. A milestone was reached in 2005, when more than 10 million visitors came to the state, according to the University of Montana's Institute for Tourism and Recreational Research -- an increase of 4% / 2003 and an increase of 16.6% over the decade. While ski area visits dropped 8% last year, lodging numbers increased by 3.6% and airline boardings increased by 7%.
10 Years Ago
May 4, 2016
Developers behind a planned Marriott in Whitefish were sent back to the drawing board last month and returned with a smaller hotel design for a different location on Highway 93 south. The city Planning Board in March recommended denial of a planned unit development overlay and conditional use permit for the project, saying the proposed three-story, 111-room hotel south of the Mountain Mall pond was too large and blocked views toward Glacier National Park. Developers from Whitefish TP LLC took note of these comments and proposed an 81-room, three-story TownPlace Suites. The planned footprint of 17,565 square feet still required a conditional use permit, but the building height was reduced to 35 feet, so a PUD was no longer being requested.