Weekend Main Street Cruise is Bad for Business from Jim E (2)Judi Funk
From: Jims_no_reply_email@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 6:31 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Weekend Main Street Cruise is Bad for Business
Dear Kalispell Mayor Johnson and City Council members,
Subject: Weekend Main Street Cruise is Bad for Business
I wanted to reach out to you in regards to the Friday & Saturday "Cruise" event on Main Street in downtown Kalispell. My
wife & I had booked a room at The Grand Hotel on 10/3/25 and 10/4/25 as we were traveling through your area. We
really looked forward to staying at this historic hotel in your downtown area and spending time shopping there too. We
didn't know about this Cruise event until after we had checked in to the hotel and asked the desk manager what was
going on. He downplayed the severity of it, and a short time later we were walking on the downtown sidewalks looking at
the shops along Main Street near the hotel. The noise from the cars and trucks was outrageous! We watched a police
cruiser drive by a few times but they didn't do anything. After we returned to our hotel room we realized that the noise
from outdoors was so loud indoors (echoing off of the downtown buildings) that sleep would be impossible. We ended up
asking for and receiving a full refund and we stayed somewhere else outside Kalispell for those two nights. I read an
internet news article from 4/26/25 on the Flathead Beacon discussing the safety aspect of this cruise for area families and
a lack of enforcement and that left me feeling very sorry for the residents that have to deal with this on weekends, and
also that nothing has happened in the 5+ months since that article was published.
I tell you this story because I want you to understand that these cruise events are costing your business owners
money. Our money may not be a large amount, but we were not the only ones in The Grand Hotel complaining about the
outside noise that night. It is my hope for your community that you will enact and enforce rules that support the livelihood
of your downtown businesses as well as keep your town residents safe.
If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to hold a council meeting on a side street on Friday or Saturday
and see how that goes. As for me and my circle of friends, we will not be bringing any of our travel or shopping dollars
into your town.
Sincerely,
Jim E