Central School request for HVAC repairs using funds from State-Local Infrastructure Partnership Act of 2023 Public Comment from Margaret Davis[NOTICE: This message includes an attachment -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe.]
Greetings City Council,
Please accept the following letter and fact sheet into the public record related to Item G for the Feb. 20, 2024, City Council agenda. It is attached as a pdf and pasted in at the end
of this message.
Thank you,
Margaret
Margaret E. Davis
Executive Director
Northwest Montana History Museum
nwmthistory.org <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnwmthistory.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cabrunckhorst%40kalispell.com%7Cfb2bf2c71311478f67ad08dc3190b2f2%7C6219d736f71146359
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124 Second Ave. E.
Kalispell, MT 59901
406-756-8381, press 6
19 February 2024
Kalispell City Council
201 First Ave. E.
Kalispell, MT 59901
Via email
Re: State-Local Infrastructure Partnership Act of 2023 funding request
To Mayor Johnson and Commissioners Carlson, Dahlman, Daoud, Fisher, Gabriel, Graham, Hunter, and Nunnally,
As members of the Northwest Montana History Museum, a nonprofit lessee of a city-owned building (the Central School at 124 Second Ave. E.), we would like you to consider the forthcoming
funding from the State-Local Infrastructure Partnership Act of 2023 for repair of the building’s failing HVAC system. For the building to function properly, your help in maintaining
this important city asset is needed, and receipt of this funding is the opportune time to do so.
The museum annually attracts thousands of visitors, hosts events, and engages hundreds of kids while operating an architecturally significant facility dedicated to education.
As stewards of this landmark, we find our biggest expense apart from payroll is maintenance and repair of the facility. Last year we paid $8,474 in heating and cooling maintenance, and
$12,887 in energy-related utilities, mainly related to HVAC. A fully functioning HVAC system will help minimize the HVAC expense of operating the building and reduce the likelihood
of catastrophes such as the broken pipes and flooding of December 2022.
The museum uses the building to hold artifacts and other items for the public good. The lack of climate control and the failing HVAC system put the collection at risk.
We have received an estimate of $180,769 from Electro Controls to fully repair the heat system. The museum is separately undertaking $4,125 in boiler repairs this month. Please appropriate
needed funds to maintain the Central School building for years to come. On behalf of the board, volunteers, and staff who successfully preserve and present the history of our valley,
thank you for your consideration.
Thank you,
Margaret Davis
executive director
Fact sheet: Central School building at 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell
Northwest Montana History Museum, nonprofit tenant since 1999
Building
opened to students in 1894
renovated in 1998
22,000 square feet
Kalispell’s oldest public building
Museum
opened in Central School building in 1999
122 exhibits mounted since 1999
70 volunteers contributed 4,938 volunteer hours in 2023
174 events hosted in 2023
9,768 visitors in 2023, an increase of 21 percent from 2022