CPR's MOST THREATENED PLACES

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Losing Historic Cobblestones Montana Standard article Montana Standard editorial

St. Peter's Rectory, Anaconda

This building stands in good exterior condition. The Catholic diocese in Helena is presumably behind the effort to demolish. Parking is NOT a problem there. It seems quite obvious that they just don't want to own the building anymore. If someone were interested in acquiring it for a residence, the Church might let it go for relatively little plus the cost of a land survey. Help save a cool building!

Dumas Brothel • SAVED, under new ownership 7/2012

88 East Park at the corner of Wyoming. The Imperial and Ivanhoe Blocks (to right in picture) are presently undergoing renovation.

Butte-Silver Bow (city-county government) is owner of this commercial property in the heart of the Butte National Historic Landmark District.

Description of Building's Structural Shell. The Greek Café building is a substantial structural shell constructed in 1917. Due to this comparatively late date for construction in Uptown Butte, it started with a strong base of a reinforced concrete foundation. The exterior brick bearing walls of the upper two floors are three bricks/12 inches thick with a high-fired hard face brick on the primary north and east facades. The building's basement and main and upper floors provide a gross square footage of a little over 13,600 square feet.

88 East Park showing the Wyoming Street façade.

A massive failure of the roof's east timber truss has occurred. This was apparently caused by a flashing and sealant failure of the support rods and saddle (suspended from the steel truss system) pulling through the supported wood after water penetration. Despite the dramatic failure of the east's north-south wood truss, the three clear-span east-west steel trusses remain in very good condition. It is these steel trusses that are bracing the otherwise unsupported "tall and thin" east brick wall.

The main floor consists primarily of storefronts, large glassed areas spanned by cast iron posts and beams supporting the brick walls above. The floor area is divided into six store areas, three facing Park Street and three facing Wyoming Street stepping down the hill. The south half of the building has bearing walls running east-west and the north half has bearing walls running north-south. It would appear that this change in structural direction is primarily responsible for the long central crack in the east wall and the brick bulge at the north end of the east storefront. There are also more openings here at this central point to induce a crack and the weight of debris inside the building may also be a contributing factor. These main-floor 16-foot wide stores, defined by bearing walls, add some rigidity to the lower floor whose façade is primarily open glass front.

Historic "ghost sign" on the Wyoming Street façade of 88 E. Park.

Deterioration. A significant amount of deterioration has occurred to the non-structural surfaces of the building (particularly the lath and plaster) because the missing roof. The degree of deterioration is less as one proceeds deeper into the structure; the basement has little deterioration of its structural posts and joists but more water damage to its floor sheathing. The main-level floors probably can be reused with selective replacement of damaged areas.

The upper floor's sheathing is extensively deteriorated, particularly at the central area of the missing roof and from the impact of the failed wood truss. A previous owner removed most of the failed wood truss components. The floor sheathing and floor are extensively damaged and the majority of the floor, particularly toward the center where there is now no roof, will need to be replaced. The perimeter floor areas of the second floor are in better condition because the truss failure introduced a path for water flow. The floor area under the one-third of the remaining roof, to the west, is in surprisingly good condition.

The roof over two-thirds of the building is completely missing, due to the failure of the saddle support of the east wood truss. As with the truss components, the previous owner removed the majority of the roof's joists after the failure of the wood truss.

Cornice detail on the Wyoming Street façade of 88 E. Park.

The remaining one-third of the roof is in relatively good shape for three-fourths of the slope, and the roofing and joists are beginning to fail at the south end. The built-up components of the wood truss at the south end are actively failing. The remainder of the west truss consists of paired lumber components arranged to form a truss (five 2x12s with staggered lapped joints in a truss configuration) that is still supporting the western roof. It should be noted that the historic wood truss in now only supporting half of its previous roof load and that the clear-span steel trusses are now only supporting one-quarter of their previous roof load. The wood truss and steel trusses have additional capacity without two-thirds of the roof in place.

Additional Information Available. About seven years ago, the local Urban Revitalization Agency demonstrated an interest in and commitment to 88 E. Park Street when it authorized a structural analysis of the building. A copy of that report can be reviewed at Butte-Silver Bow's Community Development Department office. Anyone interested in this property should contact Karen Byrnes, URA Director and head of Community Development at E-mail; phone 406-497-6266.

Old Conoco Gas Station at Wyoming and Granite

1979 photo from Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), Library of Congress	2007 photo
Detail showing edge of roof and original tin ceiling

Longfellow School demolished