by Travis Mateer
Last week Missoula developer, Max Wolf, chose violence. The original plan denied by City Council was to allow Wolf to subsidize the renovation efforts of the historic hospital by building new residential development in a dense cluster around the historic structure. Here’s my coverage thus far of this latest development in developing what should NOT be developed if PRESERVING HISTORY is something these developers are actually serious about:
City Council Said No To The Wolf (February 23rd, 2024)
Max Wolf, The Cultural Terrorist, Just Shot His Figurative Hostage In The Head (February 27th, 2024)
Build Back Happier: A Builder’s Support Group For Men! (February 28th, 2024)
When Max Wolf appeared before Council last week he was flanked by architect, David Gray. Both men put their names on this op-ed last year after they got their first NO, which must have been offensive because PRIVATE PROPERTY! From the link (emphasis mine):
Last spring, Missoula’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) denied an historic preservation permit to save and restore the Old Post Hospital. This was an unfortunate result of a flawed process, full of errors and disparate consideration of our application compared to others at Fort Missoula.
As the property owner and project architect, we want to set the record straight on misconceptions caused by a malicious campaign of disinformation.
A key fact is that the Old Post Hospital and adjacent acreage is privately owned, and has been since the Federal government declared the buildings and land surplus property in the 1960s. The Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC) took ownership for more than half a century before selling the property in 2019. For over four years, we have engaged in a collaborative process with the HPC and community members for an historic preservation permit that would allow us to restore the Old Post Hospital. We believe we have adhered to the standards that apply to a National Historic District, and there were insufficient grounds to deny the permit.
Yes, this KEY FACT will be important to remember when this duo of tantrum-throwing developers come back with NEW plans to shit out town-homes all over our community’s history. If you don’t know what a threat from a developer sounds like, here’s more from the cultural terrorists sounding like my kids whining about HOW UNFAIR life can be (emphasis mine):
Given the HPC’s history of unfair, arbitrary decisions, the Missoula City Council needs to ask itself if our experience with city government is what private property owners wanting to preserve and restore their historic structures should be subjected to.
Why do these men feel so entitled to plop new development down where MANY citizens DO NOT WANT IT? Maybe the picture at the top of this post can illuminate the developer dynamics here, because that gorgeous renovation project was completed by David Gray’s architecture firm, DVG Architecture and Planning P.C. Why is this significant? Maybe because I think it’s funny that Missoula County is leasing office space out of this building.
While there is nothing that points to obvious conflicts of interest here, it still seems worth noting that cozy relationships like this exist between local government and local landlords. Is a more nuanced atmosphere of congeniality created by these financial relationships? I don’t know, but it might help explain the degree of tantrum we are witnessing by these developers who CLAIMED to care about Missoula’s history, but are now positioned to destroy another small part of it, seemingly out of spite.
I took this picture yesterday while walking around downtown and I struck up a conversation with a man who was staring at this building. Why? I asked and found out that he used to go to school in this building, so we talked about how much this town has changed. I told him about my documentary about Tax Increment Financing and how our Mayor died shortly after it was released, possibly with our critical attention as a contributing factor, to which this man approached me and shook my hand.
Yes, our five-term Mayor, John Engen, sold out this town and his legacy still makes some people VERY upset because some of us know that it didn’t have to be this way. For example, I know someone in Public Works who told me about a viable plan to save the Merc, but it was IGNORED by our fair Mayor at the time because he wanted that building razed to the ground and hotels to be built on the footprint, and Engen usually got what he wanted.
Is this the origin of developer entitlement in Missoula?
John Engen might be dead, but his legacy lives on through Ellen, the woman wielding the oversize scissors to his left. What does this legacy entail? Doing borderline retarded shit, like pitching a fucking sculpture park while your city is burning down to the ground.
From the link (emphasis mine):
The city of Missoula is seeking public comment on a proposed sculpture walk in Silver Park at 900 Cregg Ln. in the Old Sawmill District.
The grant and donation-funded project will feature an outdoor sculpture gallery.
Missoula Parks and Recreation will manage park and trail operations.
I highlighted the role of Parks and Rec to MANAGE this sculpture park because THAT is where hidden costs lurk in a project that’s being pitched as NOT using public funds. BULLSHIT! (emphasis mine):
A sculpture walk is an outdoor gallery where durable sculptures are placed amidst landscaped settings. Many cities nationwide have designated public areas for these installations, providing accessible art that fosters community identity, pride, and a sense of belonging, ultimately enriching the lives of residents and visitors alike.
The sculptures would be funded through grants and donations rather than public funds. Local art advocates are establishing a community-driven non-profit to raise funds for the purchase, installation and maintenance of the sculptures. The City’s Public Art Committee would help ensure a transparent public review process. Parks and Recreation would manage the park and trail operations around the sculptures with minimal costs to the City.
Do you detect the rank aroma of bullshit emanating from this city-speak effort to mesmerize the public into accepting the “minimal” cost of this UNNEEDED project?
The triumvirate of good-willed idiocy running this town into the ground operates under a public/private/NON-PROFIT framework, and any one of these three legs is capable of institutional tantrum-throwing, or strategic scapegoating, when challenged.
Lucky for them, challengers like me are grossly underfunded and very exposed to asymmetric retaliation, since I’m hyper-local in my focus, and apolitical in my disdain for D’s and R’s. If you’d like to help the underfunded part, my gofundme is still accepting donations.
The last factor I’ll note in this particular development saga is how the entity that would be best positioned to advocate for historic preservation–the Historic Museum at Fort Missoula–can’t say shit because they are County employees.
Here’s an email reply I got after trying to set up a meeting and sending this link about the Larchmont golf course development scheme, which is right in the neighborhood of Fort Missoula:
I anticipated a response like this, and offered the following cheeky reply:
Yep, this is what it looks like to FIGHT BACK against wolves offering to renovate the hen house.
Thanks for reading!