Help a good thing along

In early 1917 the Whitefish Pilot asked residents about their opinions of building a new City Hall. The town had only been incorporated less than 12 years.

There were a variety of opinions. Some felt more attention should be paid to getting all of the streets paved, others felt the town was too small at that time for a City Hall. However, there were also a lot of residents who didn’t just see Whitefish for what it was at that time, but for what it could become.

“Of course, we never all agree on such questions…” said the Pilot.

And today, almost 100 years later that is still true.

In spending just a little time looking back at the decision and commentary around building the first City Hall in Whitefish, I am struck by the speed of the process back then. This was a topic of discussion in February of 1917. But by May of 1917 the City Council had made the required decisions to move forward.

“Whitefish will be enabled to hold its position as an up-to-date and enterprising city,” said the Pilot about the new building set to begin construction that very summer. “The new location is not yet determined, but it is understood that the corner of Second Street and Baker will be chosen. The building will in all probability be of brick.”

“All that remains to be done is to help a good thing along.”

That was nearly 100 years ago.

Whitefish has known for a long time that this investment, made by its earliest residents, wouldn’t last forever. That is why a new City Hall has been marked as a priority for decades.

Councils and committees have reviewed and anguished over the details and the optimal location for a new city hall. Cost scenarios for buying new land at another location versus building on existing land have been calculated. Public forums have been held. A decision to build a new City Hall was made two years ago! The amount of public process surrounding the new City Hall and parking structure has been staggering.

I am sure the early Whitefish residents who decided to build the current building would be astonished at how exhaustive the process has been. After all, as the Whitefish Pilot stated in 1917, “Of course, we never all agree on such questions…”

By January of 1918 the new Whitefish City Hall was completed and by March the first City Council meeting was held in the new City Hall, a building that has pretty much the same layout and stature as when it was first built in 1917. This was in the middle of World War I and when most of the town’s streets were still dirt. But the headline of the Pilot was that “Whitefish’s New City Building and Fire Hall are a Credit to the Community.”

We have benefited from the foresight of these early residents who weren’t just looking at their toes. They were committed to building a community that would last.

And that is why I urge this council remain stead-fast in honoring the years of analysis and thousands of hours of volunteer time that have gone into making sound, long-lasting and enterprising decisions.

It is time to build the new City Hall and parking structure. It is time to address the parking issues. It is time for us as a community to say: “All that remains to be done is to help a good thing along.”

— John Frandsen, Whitefish