City Commissioners unanimously approved supporting the nomination of the Baatz Block to the National Register of Historic Places during their Jan. 16 meeting.

NeighborWorks Great Falls is rehabilitating the vacant building into permanent supportive housing.

NWGF is pursuing federal and state historic preservation tax credits for the project and to access those tax credits, the property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

To make the list, NWGF has submitted a nomination that the State Preservation Review Board is considering on Jan. 25.

Baatz Building cleanup getting started, construction planned for fall [2023]

The State Historic Preservation Office, or SHPO, is required to consult with local governments on the nominations and requested the commission’s opinion.

NWGF is partnering with Homeword, out of Missoula, to turn the Baatz building, built in 1913 at 400 2nd St. S. into 24 permanent supportive housing units, along with one managers unit, for a total of 25 housing units and a community services center on the main floor.

The developers are using a diverse funding package, including the use of federal and state historic preservation tax credits, according to city staff.

To qualify for those credits, a building must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places either before or during the application process.

During the meeting, Commissioner Susan Wolff asked if the designation would restrict NWGF’s ability to make changes to the building.

Sherrie Arey, NWGF director, said that the designation itself doesn’t impact an owner’s ability to make changes to the building, but federal tax credits and other federal funding sources come with requirements.

The nomination was submitted in November 2023 and will be considered at the state board’s Jan. 25 meeting, according to the city.

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The state board’s decision will be forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places for final review.

Commissioners can waive their right to comment, support or object to the nomination.

The Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission considered the nomination during their Jan. 10 meeting and voted to support the nomination.

Since commissioners supported the nomination, SHPO will present the nomination to the state board for consideration.

Staff said the support of the nomination complies with city plans, particularly the 2013 Growth Policy that identified the need to “establish incentives for the preservation, rehabilitation and maintenance of historically or architecturally significant properties.”

City approves $2.15 million in federal funds for Baatz project [2023]

Historic Preservation Tax Credits are “one of the most powerful incentives government can offer to those who wish to preserve historic buildings,” and supporting the nomination is the city’s role in offering that incentive to NWGF, according to city staff.

The 2011 Downtown Master Plan included a goal to “preserve, restore and reuse downtown’s historic buildings and sites.”

Staff wrote in their report that “NeighborWorks’ rehabilitation of the Baatz Block activates a historic building that has been unused and underused for decades, and restores the building to its place as a beautiful and useful part of downtown Great Falls.”

The growth policy also identified the need to “expand transitional housing with supportive services benefitting the homeless and special needs populations in the city,” a need met by NWGF’s Baatz project, according to staff.

Staff reviewed the nomination and concurs with its statement that the Baatz Block is eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places due to its embodiment of the Western Commercial architectural style and its association with the early economic development of downtown Great Falls.

NWGF receives $6.1 million in low income housing tax credits for Baatz Building renovation [2021]

According to the nomination submitted to the state, the Baatz building is eligible due to its local level of significance.

“The Baatz Block represents an early commercial building associated with the development of Great Falls in the early 1910s in the actively growing city. The colorful past of the building only enhances the role it played providing long
and short term accommodations, concurrently as a hotel and as apartments. The Baatz Block hosted both working class visitors and long term residents. It also gained notoriety for housing one of the first cabaret establishments in Montana with subsequent use of the space for a number of bars and taverns through the decades. In addition, the ground floor provided a venue for a number of smaller businesses to operate,” according to NWGF’s nomination submission.

Photo by Jenn Rowell of The Electric during Great Falls Fire Rescue training at the Baatz building in May 2023 before construction began.