Looking Back for July 5
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler.
50 Years Ago
July 5, 1973
Eighty-three new and long-awaited post office boxes were installed in the Whitefish Post Office. Postmaster Milton Sloan stated that nearly half of the key-type boxes were already rented. As recently as two years prior, there was no particular demand for the boxes, with close to 100 being left empty at a time. The growth of Whitefish, however, dictated change. “One-hundred twenty more boxes will arrive in about four months. With these, we hope to take care of people for another couple of years.”
40 Years Ago
July 7, 1983
Arguments from residents who didn’t want to be neighbors to a new post office didn’t sway councilmen. The council voted 4-2 to send a letter to the U.S. Postal Service saying it concurred with the tentative selection of the site. Several residents said they were opposed to the site the postal service had selected, the east side of the block between Fourth and Fifth streets, along Baker Avenue. They cited traffic problems they believed would result and an impact on Riverside Park. Speaking in favor of the site were Mayor Hank Olson, Pat Sullivan, a director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and others.
30 Years Ago
July 8, 1993
The Whitefish City Council may have written a new page in the city’s history by approving a golf course and 522-unit residential development south of town. The council, by a 4-2 vote, gave its final approval to Riverside at Whitefish, a 230-acre development planned for an area that was occupied by farmland northeast of the intersection of U.S. 93 and Montana 40. “We’re not really listening to the average Whitefish resident,” said Chet Hope. He quoted figures from the Whitefish Community Development Corporation survey stating that 52% of the respondents said Whitefish wasn’t as good a place to live as it was five years ago, and 60% said it will get worse in the next five years.
20 Years Ago
July 3, 2003
Newco International, under the auspices of Whitefish Hills Forest, LLC, was planning its next expansion behind KM Ranch Road. The company owned 2,200 acres in the Whitefish area. Whitefish Hills, LLC was its first area development and access is once again an issue. Whitefish Hills Forest would be similar to Whitefish Hills and developers would ask the county commissioners for a zone change from 40-acre to 20-acre lots so work could begin. The proposed zone change and planned development bore marked similarities to the first development, with concerns over neighborhood impact and public access.
10 Years Ago
July 3, 2013
Investors terminated their plans to construct a downtown hotel at Block 46, citing difficulty with securing financing for the project. Local developer Orlan Sorenson, owner of Landmark Builders, had proposed to construct an $11.9, 80-room boutique hotel along Spokane Avenue and East Second Street. The hotel was to include an indoor/outdoor pool, rooftop bar, cafe and retail space along Spokane Avenue. Sorenson informed the city he had opted out of the buy/sell agreement for the purchase of the land and had no plans to revive the project.