Historic Alpinglow Inn reduced to rubble
More big changes on Big Mountain. The historic Alpinglow Inn has been reduced to a pile of rubble, with crews salvaging what they can before hauling the rest to the landfill.
Larry Matson, of L.M. Excavating Inc., of Columbia Falls, said he began the demolition on Friday, April 23, about 1 p.m. The next day, a big wind storm hit the Flathead, causing downed power lines across the valley, so he decided to hold off until Monday to complete the job.
All told, it took Matson about a day and a half to bring down the tall condominium building using chains and his Volvo excavator. Matson said he started from the top and worked his way down, right through the middle of the building.
Matson has 16 years of demolition experience. In Whitefish, his company tore down Central School, Big Mountain Tire, Safeway and Ben Franklin. On Monday, he headed out to Havre to tear down the first of three U.S. Border Patrol stations.
Salvage work on the Alpinglow Inn began last November, with kitchen equipment going to the Three Forks Grill in Columbia Falls, said Dow Powell, the general contractor for the demolition and a long-time condominium unit owner.
Later this spring, Montana Conservation Corps crews removed insulation, toilets, doors and windows for Habitat For Humanity, Powell said. The Samaritan House took beds and furniture, and the Veterans Stand Down and Food Pantry in Kalispell also got restaurant equipment.
Powell said most of the copper wiring was recycled, and Matson is still salvaging wood and other items.
Chris Sauve, the president of the condominium association's board of directors, said the 34 current owners have no plans for the site once it's cleaned up. The decision to proceed with demolition was a tough one, he said, as the many original owners who raised their children in the Alpinglow over decades of winters have sentimental memories.
"It was a perfect storm," he said. "First we got the engineering report, and then the economy went south. We spoke to several developers, but then interest in the site dried up. Some of the owners were also affected by the recession, so repairing the building or building a new one wasn't feasible."
The Alpinglow Inn was the first resort-type condominium in Montana history. Winter Sports Inc. turned to local builder Don Collins for the general contractor, and construction kicked off in 1968.
The building's 54 units initially sold for $9,951 apiece, complete with individual electric heat, private baths and wall-to-wall carpeting. WSI managed the inn for the owners, who typically reserved a few weeks a year for their own use.
The owners of the Alpinglow Inn voted Sept. 12, 2007, to close the building after a preliminary structural engineering study reported potential structural hazards. Concerns included age, degradation, snow-loading and earthquakes — especially the tall "telephone" poles used to support the west-facing restaurant.
Norm Kurtz, WSI's former CEO, took exception to claims the building was unsafe in 2007. He noted that Collins was a "good builder" who followed the rules "right to the letter," and the building "easily passed an insurance inspection."
Not long after the inn opened, an earthquake hit Big Moun-tain Village, causing damage to the foundation of the east wing of WSI's lodge across the street — but the Alpinglow Inn was OK, with nothing bent or broken, Kurtz said.
"The building just sat there and wiggled her hips with no damage," Kurtz said in Jean Arthur's book "Hellroaring, Fifty Years on the Big Mountain."
Photos of the demolition taken by the Gravity Shots helicopter can be seen online at http://vimeo.com/groups/5dmkii/videos/11280811.