Planning for the future of Idaho Timber property

The Idaho Timber plant in Whitefish has sat empty since shutting down its operation nearly five years ago.

This week, a group of interested residents, city officials and representatives from Idaho Timber will gather to discuss ideas for redevelopment of the shuttered plant off Karrow Avenue near the Whitefish River.

The City of Whitefish is hosting the visioning session on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

“We hope to get some input from the community and maybe come up with some ideas for future use,” said planning director David Taylor.

Members of the steering committee heading up the Highway 93 West Corridor Land Use Plan also will be in attendance.

Zoning on the site will remain as industrial, Taylor said, but the corridor plan will determine what other uses are appropriate.

Future uses could range from industry, to mixed-use or as a resort area.

“It’s wide open,” Taylor added.

The 10-acre site and 65,000-square-foot plant was used by Idaho Timber to produced high-quality boards. Raw lumber was sorted, trimmed and cut to lengths of 4 to 12 feet.

The plant closed in June 2009 due to the recession.

Holding company Leucadia National Corp. is the parent company of Idaho Timber. Leucadia owns interests in plastics manufacturing, telecommunications, property management, gaming entertainment, real estate, medical product development and several wineries.

According to Taylor, the company likely isn’t interested in reopening the mill, but is keeping its options open about whether to redevelop or sell the site.

Whitefish-based Innovative Timber Systems has expressed interest in using the plant for production and shipment of cross-laminated wood panels. They are drawn to the site due to its infrastructure and access to the railroad, Taylor said.

There are likely environmental concerns at the site, Taylor said, since industrial use dates back to Whitefish’s earliest days. Another concern is that junked Model T cars, train engines and other scraps were used for fill on the property.

“Some type of cleanup is probably needed,” Taylor said, although to what extent is unknown.