During last weekās Rail Jam ā Butteās first-ever snowboarding competition ā beanie-clad youth gathered beneath the Mountain Con headframe to watch snowboarders and skiers show off their acrobatic skills.
There were 43 participants in total, some of whom traveled from as far as Oregon and Minnesota to compete.
Matthew Boyle, Rail Jam co-founder, said the competition was designed to give people something to do in Butte during winter and to create a sense of community.
However, there was a time in the Butteās past when such an event may have seemed overly decadent.
Butte went through some trying times in the 1980s when the last of its mines closed for business. At that moment, people were more concerned with keeping their jobs than they were with finding the latest in recreation.
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Without the economy to sustain what was once a thriving city, many of Butteās historic Uptown buildings fell into disrepair, leaving behind swaths of blighted blocks.
Rocko Mulcahy served as a county commissioner from 2000 to 2008, 20 years after the Berkeley Pit closed. During his time as commissioner, countless problems seemed to fall on his doorstep, including Superfund cleanup challenges, the legacy of a declining mining industry, and the demise of the Montana Power Co.
āThe community was really in a state of panic and a state of shock,ā said Mulcahy. āThere was a lot of negativity in the town.ā
But thanks to a concerted effort to create a more diversified economy and some key players who have taken important steps in community development, the face of Butte is gradually starting to change.
As executive director of Butteās Local Development Corp. Pam Haxby-Cote puts it, āButte was once a mining city, but now itās a city with a mine in it.ā
The following represents a few highlights in the effort to revitalize Butte, the challenges the Mining City continues to face, and the aspirations the communityās leaders have for the cityās future.
Urban Renewal and Beyond
Kristen Rosa and Karen Byrnes are administrators for Butte-Silver Bowās Community Development Department. Rosa oversees Butteās Tax Incremental Financing Industrial District while Byrnes directs the Urban Revitalization Agency in Uptown Butte.
Both districts use tax incremental financing to fund infrastructure projects. These can include everything from installing new sewer pipes to helping businesses construct new facilities.
When asked what they do for a living, the two administrators often find themselves at a loss for words.
According to Rosa and Byrnes, community development involves many intersecting spheres, including economic development, cultural enrichment, infrastructure improvements and the recruitment of new businesses.
āWeāre involved in so many things,ā said Byrnes.
āItās completely diverse,ā Rosa added.
In both Byrnes and Rosaās districts, some exciting developments have happened over the years, including the construction of the $27-million NorthWestern Energy Building, plans for a parking garage in Uptown Butte, the revitalization of key historic buildings, and the recruitment of businesses to Montana Connections Business Development Park.
But when it comes to discussing community development in the Mining City, one of the most often discussed topics is arguably the revitalization Uptown Butte.
As administrator of the Urban Revitalization Agency, Byrnes' job is to oversee urban renewal projects within her district. She said the redevelopment of the Sears Building, Metals Bank and Hirbour Tower are high points in her career.
As Byrnes pointed out, the three buildings were once neglected, dilapidated structures but are now trendy, upscale residential and retail properties.
āThese large buildings that were basically vacant are now full of life,ā said Byrnes.
According to Hirbour Tower investor Fran Doran, when she bought the seven-story building in 2010, its only inhabitants were a few dead pigeons.
Doran purchased the tower with her partner Neil Egan, and the couple eventually partnered with developer Nick Kujawa.
When work on the tower began, everything needed to be updated, ādown to the studs,ā Doran said. But after a lot of sweat and manpower, the building was finally completely renovated in 2014 and now boasts upscale lofts.
However, revitalization isnāt just happening in Uptown Butte. Itās also happening on the Flat and the TIFID district too.
As The Montana Standard reported in December, 2015 was a big year for construction, especially on the Flat. New buildings include Buffalo Wild Wings on Harrison Avenue, Fairfield Inn & Suites near the Interstate 15-90 interchange, and Lisac's Tire warehouse on Wynne Street.
Rosa said two new buildings also went up in the TIFID district, including a distribution center and a building for SepticNET, which has additional space to rent.
As for 2016, Rosa hopes to establish a new Targeted Economic Development District near the Butte Industrial Park and connect the already existing TIFID district to potable water and Butteās fiber-optic network.
Urban Living: A Growing National Trend
Projects like the redevelopment of Hirbour Tower mark a growing cultural trend where people are taking an interest in urban landscapes, said Rosa and Byrnes.
In 2014, Nielson reported that urban migration is especially prevalent among millennials, who are foregoing suburban life in favor of a more urban lifestyle.
āSixty-two percent indicate they prefer to live in the type of mixed-use communities found in urban centers,ā the authors wrote. āAs a result, for the first time since the 1920s, growth in U.S. cities outpaces growth outside of them.ā
Rosa and Byrnes agreed that Butte is well situated to take advantage of this trend, which is also prevalent among Baby Boomers who no longer wish to shovel snow or mow lawns.
āWeāve got the infrastructure, the resources and the opportunities for it to happen,ā said Byrnes. āIt can happen here much easier than it can happen in other places. We can grow back into ourselves.ā
Rosa and Byrnes hope to attract a younger generation to the Mining City, a sentiment echoed by Haxby-Cote:
āI want to see young professionals walking up and down the street of Butte-Silver Bow,ā said Haxby-Cote. āI want to see the top floors of buildings developed and have a healthy, thriving economy.ā
Another trend Byrnes and Rosa want to take advantage of is millennialsā lust for technology and access to high-speed Internet. The two hope that Butteās 2GB fiber-optic network can attract startup entrepreneurs and freelancing telecommuters.
āYou can work for Boeing out of your house in Butte as easily as you can work for Boeing living in Bellevue, Washington,ā said Rosa.
Butte-based company MERDI officially unveiled the fiber optic network in 2014 and cited the technology as the first of its kind in Montana. Since 2013, the Butte School District, public library and fiber-optic company Fatbeam have hooked up to the network.
Art and Science of a Diversified Economy
According to Haxby-Cote, the fiber-optic network helps diversify Butteās economy. However, another sphere contributing to the cityās diversification is Butteās art and culture scene.
As Boyle pointed out, Butte boasts a plethora of festivals, including the Montana Folk Festival, Evel Knievel Days and An Ri Ra. Boyle said these cultural events are important for improving residentsā quality of life, but they also have an economic impact, too.
āItās not just people playing music on stage,ā said Boyle. āItās people staying at hotels and eating at restaurants.ā
In Olivia Everettās mind, however, art and culture create something much more intangible.
Everett is the creative director of Butte Art Works Project, which is housed in the Phoenix Building of the Imagine Butte Resource Center. She said having a place like Imagine Butte ā which serves as a collaborative space for artists, writers and other creativesĀ ā helps people encounter a third place outside the realm of family and work.
She added that such spaces create a sense of community and ultimately enrich the lives of residents.
Ongoing Community Development Challenges
Community developers interviewed by the Standard had a lot to say about the exciting changes in Butte, and many of them expressed great optimism about the cityās future.
However, what wasnāt lost on them was Butteās ongoing challenges.
In Doranās mind, urban renewal projects are important because such efforts preserve the cityās cultural history. For Doran, that history is encapsulated by a spirit of survival, from the Irish miners who migrated to Butte looking for a better life to the citizens who struggled to rebuild the cityās economy after the decline of those very same mines.
However, Doran also said that Butteās citizens should match their nostalgia with a forward-thinking attitude if the city is to continue to improve.
āPart of our problem may be that we look too much to the past instead of looking to the future,ā said Doran.
She thinks Butte is in need of more amenities, not only for local families and children but also for visitors who could potentially spread the word about Butteās recreational scene.
Several of the community developers cited Butteās reputation as one of the cityās challenges.
According to Boyle, Butte has a bit of an image problem, given the Berkeley Pitās Superfund designation and Butteās rough-and-tumble past as a mining town.
Boyle said he sees this roughneck image as a stereotype and believes that people have to experience Butte for themselves to see that itās a friendly place.
Rosa, Byrnes and Haxby-Cote all said their challenge is raising awareness about Butte.
āI donāt have enough capacity to tell everyone what a good place Butte is to live, work and play,ā said Haxby-Cote.
āThe size of our community doesnāt lend itself to people knowing what assets we have,ā said Rosa āItās an education process.ā
āWeāve been working really hard to figure out how to educate,ā added Byrnes.
But for Everett, Butteās greatest challenge is its lack to safe, affordable housing for low-income families and renters.
Despite whatever challenges they face, a reoccurring theme among the community developers was a need for collaboration among Butteās citizens and leadership.
According to Haxby-Cote, such collaboration is needed for the continued improvement of the city.
āNot one of these members can do it on their own,ā said Haxby-Cote, referring to the members of the Butte Economic Development Coordinating Council.
āItās never just one entity that makes a project successful,ā said Rosa. āItās always a partnership.ā