Texas Roadhouse

The city has issued a building permit for the new Texas Roadhouse at 1220 10th Ave. S. The permit includes demolition of the existing building at the corner of the Holiday Village Mall parking lot that was previously a Mexican restaurant.

The civil case between Holiday Village Mall and Ross Dress for Less is ongoing.

Texas Roadhouse files plans for new restaurant in Great Falls [2024]

Town Pump

Town Pump is building a new Great Northern Lounge at 3800 10th Ave. S. to replace their existing Montana Lil’s casino on the property. The city has issued a building permit for the project and the existing casino will remain open during construction, according to the city planning office, and will be demolished once the new building is complete.

Great Falls Job Service

Great Falls Job Service is moving temporarily to Great Falls College, effective May 1, while the current office undergoes extensive renovations. 

They’ll be in Room B103, accessible by south entrance 7. 

The move ensures that job seekers and workers in the community will experience no disruption in services, with the team continuing to welcome both walk-ins and scheduled consultations.

Business Bites: Old Chicago opening; McDonald’s, Homegrown Dental building new locations; wellness event; belly dancing class; disc golf tournament; Sunday Sampler; Fastsigns moves

Epiphany Dermatology

Epiphany Dermatology is relocating to their new, permanent location at 100 Park Drive S. They’ll be open in that space beginning May 5.

Shred Day

Great Falls Rotary Club is hosting their shred day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 13.

This year’s event will support efforts to eradicate polio worldwide.

Banker sized boxes of documents (15L x 10H x 12W) will be shredded for $15 per box.

Documents with staples are acceptable.

Shredding provided by Montana Business Archives on site at the Meadow Lark Country Club parking lot.

Simply drive up with your boxes to shred and Rotary members will unload and put your documents into the shredder.

Cash and checks will be accepted.

For more information contact Cari at 406-788-3704.

NN Smokehouse

NN Smokehouse is holding a grand opening May 10 at 1720 10th Ave. S., in the shopping center with the UPS Store. They’re in the former Big Mouth space and will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Best Wok

Yes, they are still closed. No, we don’t know when or if they intend to reopen.

We do know the property has not changed hands, according to publicly available property records, nor is the building listed for sale.

If and when that changes, we’ll report it.

Housed Great Falls

Housed Great Falls announced their cold weather drop-in stats for past winter at First United Methodist Church, 610 2nd Ave. N.

They were open 73 nights this winter with nearly 50-day streak of being open. They served more than 1,700 hot meals and more than 90 volunteers served at various times totaling 828 hours.

Local group fundraising for homeless shelter village [2023]

Housed Great Falls is hoping to create a tiny home village, but anticipate that cost to be about $1.5 million, so their short term goal is to give people a place to go during the cold weather to prevent fatalities.

“We have found that little gap in services after the library closes for the evening nad before Rescue Mission opens” Rev. Dawn Skerritt, of FUMC said.

The drop-in space is available on the second floor of the downtown church when temperatures drop below 25 degrees if there’s no wind or perceptiation or 32 or below when there’s wind or precipitation, Skerritt said.

Business Bites: Take 5 oil change construction; Loading Zone demolition; Pizza Ranch update; Strunk selected for business program; new Honey Hippo location; Press Club move; art classes at The Square; leprechaun trap at GF Rec Center; Community Band concerts; Fire Within

She said last winter, they had about 50 volunteers and so they were happy to see the community involvement grow as they work to find solutions for local housing needs after the tent encampment in the church parking lot during the summer of 2022 highlighted community needs.

Edward Jones conference

Edward Jones Financial Advisor Jordan Husted recently qualified for the Edward Jones recognition conference, Pinnacle, which celebrates the contributions and achievements of the 159 most successful financial advisors, from the firm’s more than 20,000, in sustaining a successful practice.

The event is April 28 – May 1 in Laguna Niguel, Calif. and includes financial advisors from both the U.S. and Canada.

Business Bites: Chik-fil-A files traffic study, Winco, Panera, Ocean Star Seafood, local wins Emmy Award, United Way surpasses fundraising goal, Christian bookstore opens in the mall

Local Yarn Store Day

Farmer’s Daughter Fibers and Yarn and Honey are both hosting Local Yarn Shop Day events on April 26.

Visit both The Farmers Daughter Fibers and Yarn and Honey to be entered to win a grand prize.

At Farmer’s Daughter Fibers, stop in from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for 20 percent off your in-store FDF yard purchase, a custom colorway exclusive to the day, mystery bags benefiting Sisters United and prizes.

Yarn and Honey will have new yarn, new kits and three trunk shows from Tributary Yarns from Eureka, Calif.; Sweet Prairie Farms and Janet Dunn’s Bags from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

They’ll have prize drawings in the store.

Independent Bookstore Day

April 26 is Independent Bookstore Day and Cassiopeia Books is offering 10 percent off your entire in-store purchase.

They’re audiobooks on sale through Libro.fm through April 27 on Cassiopeia’s storefront here. If you want to purchase a Libro membership, you can get two free audiobooks with the code BOOKSTOREDAY and support Cassiopeia here.

Paris Gibson Square student art exhibition

The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art is hosting a reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. April 25 for the opening of the Great Falls Public Schools Annual Art Exhibition. 

The event includes the award ceremony for this year’s Zach Culliton Merit of Achievement Award winners.

The event is free and open to the public.

Farmer’s Daughter Fibers craft retreat

Farmer’s Daughter Fibers is hosting their first Makers in the Big Sky Getaway.

Signups open at 11 a.m. April 26.

Block Party

This year’s class of Leadership Great Falls is holding a block party from 4-8 p.m. April 26 with food trucks, vendors and fundraising for the Great Falls Area Community Food Bank.

The 400 block of Central Avenue will be closed for the event beginning at 3 p.m.

GFFR chief named to state association

Great Falls Fire Rescue Chief Jeremy Jones was recently named chair of the Montana State Fire Chiefs Association.

Fire Pizza wine pairing

Fire Pizza is hosting a wine tasting dinner event with several seating options.

The event includes five courses of select wines paired with special menu items, including the recently returned Bistecca pizza.

Cost is $50 per person.

Seating options include: April 27 at 4 p.m. or 6 p.m. or April 29 at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Call 406-952-1007 to reserve a spot.

Business Bites: Candy Masterpiece closing; Thrive Cycle moving; Bloom and Bean open in new spot; Tres65 closing; Project Noel, Clear Your Stash drives; Giving Tuesday; Cascade XCELL; Safety Town; Pirates of Penzance; pedal trolley

Wine club members get an additional 10 percent off any wine purchases to go.

Business Bites: Times Square, Harlos have new owners; Station District food hall update; Hallmark closing; bubble tea coming; Vintage Sellers moving soon; Denny’s not closing; First Peoples Buffalo Jump hikes

Big Sky Sips

Big Sky Sips is opening inside Pizazz at 403 Central Ave.

NorthWestern Energy donates to local nonprofits

NorthWestern Energy donated $1,800 to NeighborWorks Great Falls and $1,800 to Family Promise Great Falls from funds raised from its “Make a Basket, Make a Difference” pop-a-shot basketball game at the Great Falls Home and Garden Show in March.

For every basket made, NorthWestern Energy donated $1 to the organizations.

Family Promise of Great Falls has worked for a decade to end childhood homelessness, one family at a time. In 2024 Family Promise provided $1,300 of assistance for families for energy bills.

NeighborWorks Great Falls provides education and financing that gives Montanans the opportunity to live in a home where they can thrive.

Ursuline Centre Mother’s Day Brunch

The Ursuline Centre is hosting its 26th Annual Mother’s Day Brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 11.

This year’s event also includes raffle gift baskets, a decadent dessert room, live music by Isaac Callendar and Eric Bartz, tours of the historic rooms, a digital photo booth by Really Montana Photography, and the Great Falls Camera Club will be showcasing their best photography in the Gold Room.

Catholic mass will be celebrated in the chapel at 10 a.m.

The menu includes savory ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, homemade syrups, cubed country potatoes,
biscuits and sausage gravy, fresh fruit, rolls, and salads.

The cost for the event is $30 for adults, $25 for 65 and older and $10 for children ages 6-12. Children under
6 are free.

Tickets are available the day of the brunch or can be purchased in advance by calling 452-8585 or at the office at 2300 Central Ave.

Reservations are not required and the Ursuline Centre is handicap accessible.

Proceeds from the brunch support the nonprofit mission of the Ursuline Centre.

Business Bites: Tony Roma’s opens Monday; Feather Your Nest, Belles and Lace closing; Sisters Cafe open; housing rules; downtown development; new exhibit at Russell Museum

Boston and Montana Barn campaign

A group of locals officials launched their fundraising campaign to save the Boston and Montana Barn.

The aging barn is in Black Eagle, owned by the City of Great Falls and is the last remaining building owned by the Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company, which built a smelter in Great Falls in the early 1890s and was later acquired by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, according to the City-County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission.

City groups continue discussion of historic barn in Black Eagle [2024]

The group is hoping to raise $300,000 to stabilize the southern portion of the structure and the cost to stabilize the entire structure is about double that figure, according to Rich Ecke, of the HPAC’s Save the Barn committee.

They’re hoping to save the structure and that it could be used in the future as an interpretive center or events center.

The city has agreed to allow the group to fundraise in hopes of stabilizing the building, but hasn’t committed any city funds to the project.

Historic preservation group looking at options to save Boston and Montana Barn in Black Eagle [2023]

The barn was built in 1901 and housed horses, wagons and equipment for original Boston and Montana mining company. It was acquired by the Anaconda company in 1910 and was used by the company’s fire department.

Preservation Cascade, the group that saved and renovated the 10th Street Bridge, is acting as the fiscal agent for the fundraising campaign.

Donations by check may be sent to: PCI for Barn Project, P.O. Box 1673, Great Falls MT 59403. 

Benefis Aging Center

Benefis Health System is breaking ground on their new Healthy Aging Center, a 15,000-square-foot outpatient senior health facility near their existing campus on 10th Avenue South at 10 a.m. May 1.

Construction is expected to take about 18 months on the Benefis East Campus near the Women’s and Children’s Center.

Business Bites: Old Chicago opening; McDonald’s, Homegrown Dental building new locations; wellness event; belly dancing class; disc golf tournament; Sunday Sampler; Fastsigns moves

The outpatient clinic will “address issues of nutrition, medication, cognitive health, and mobility with dedicated specialists focusing on prevention and adaptations. Patients will be able to see specialists in related fields such as audiology at the center instead of trying to navigate the larger system and will work with a patient navigator to help further simplify healthcare and ensure better follow-up. While traditionally healthcare resources have focused on caring for the frail elderly and those with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, little has been invested in healthier aging.
Benefis aims to upend that model by bringing together geriatric specialists and services focused on supporting health maintenance through aging to promote patients’ continued independence,” according to Benefis.

Business Bites: 100-acre mixed use project proposed; Buffalo Blanc opens second location; UP athletic director resigns; Clearwater, Baatz projects progressing; Benefis building senior health center

This year’s Mayfair fundraising event will support the aging center project and it begins May 2 with a golf tournament and a gala on May 3.

Little Shell Ceremonial Center

The city completed the review of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana’s permit application for a new ceremonial center at 1301 Stuckey Road.

City planning staff said on April 28 that they were waiting for hard copy plans to be delivered for stamping and then the plans and permits picked up by the contractor.

The Little Shell broke ground on the project in an April 23 ceremony and construction is expected to be completed in 2026.

Got a business bite? Email it to jenn@theelectricgf.com with “business bite” in the subject line and the details in text form in the body of the email.