Group plans to preserve historic site Bozeman-based investors buy Story Mill property
Sunday October 29, 2006
By CAMDEN EASTERLING Chronicle Staff Writer
A group of Bozeman-based investors has bought the Story Mill and nearby properties, but plans to preserve the historic site.
Investment group Blue Sky Development purchased the Story Mill property last month,located off Bridger Canyon Road on South Story Mill Road,from previous owner Ed McCrone.“My client is adamant that the mill will be kept largely as it is today — because that’s its value,”said project planner and former Gallatin County Planning Director Dale Beland.
The investment group — whose members include Matthew Crocker,son ofYellowstone Club developer Tim Blixseth — is still “trying to figure out what’s going to be the best reuse” for the old mill,Beland said.He declined to identify Blue Sky’s other members.
Possible uses include office space,residential lofts,light industrial or a pub.
Blue Sky has also bought nearly 40 acres around the old mill,but work on that land is on the back burner,Beland said.The mill is the first priority.
The first step there is sealing off broken windows so workers can clean up the building’s interior this winter.Weatherization could take about a month and cleanup could take up to three months.
“It needs a lot of work,”said Beland,who is now a growth management and project development consultant.
Caved-in floors and roofs are also a problem,not to mention the pigeons that live in the elevator building.
The mill,which the Story family of Bozeman built in the early 1900s,stood vacant for years after Con Agra bought it in 1967 and quickly shut it down.
The mill now has a few tenants,such as a yoga studio.Beland said he couldn’t speak to their future tenancy arrangements.
After weatherization and cleanup,Blue Sky wants to talk with neighbors about what they would like to see happen in the Story Mill,Beland said.
The weatherization,cleanup and building renovation will be costly,although the company didn’t have a figure.
“It will be a substantial investment,”Beland said.
The company declined to comment on how much it paid for the properties.Previous owners could not be reached for comment.
Christine Yearley,who owns the Stockyard Cafe and the old livestock auction yard near the mill,said Blue Sky has offered to buy her land,but she’s not interested in selling. “I didn’t buy it to sell it,”she said.“I bought it to save it and I love it.”
The Story Mill site is within city limits,but other properties in the area are not.
Crocker is president of Bozeman’s GoBuild architectural woodworking company. His father,Blixseth,said he is not involved in the Story Mill project.
Camden Easterling is at ceasterling@dailychronicle.com
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