Downtown Whitefish building gets facelift

The downtown Whitefish building that once housed Piney Creek Interiors is in the midst of a $450,000 renovation. The two-story building located at 100 Central Ave. will house an art gallery, interior design company and clothing store, along with two professional offices. Monica Pastor said she purchased the property in the winter of 2015 with partners, Tanya and Judah Gersh, and Alicia and Daniel Hollis.

“It’s such a central location in town,” Pastor said. “We wanted to make it a more vibrant presence.”

The first floor will largely be occupied by the gallery, Underscore Art, which is a continuation of Pastor’s previous venture, Jest Gallery. She said the new space will house contemporary works and won’t be strictly limited to Montana artists like Jest was. In addition to artwork, the gallery will also carry jewelry by artists such as Sarah Graham Metalsmithing, Federica Rettore and Tura Sugden.

Next to the gallery will be Harlette — a second branch of the clothing store Harlow, located on Railway Street in Whitefish. Pastor said there is a third space downstairs, but tenants have yet to be finalized. Upstairs will be home to Sage Interior Design along with two office spaces, which have been reserved, Pastor said. A conference room in the upstairs tower will also be available for rent for meetings and small events.

The renovation began in March and the downstairs portion is set to be complete in September. Pastor is planning to open the doors to the building in the fall.

Pastor said one of the major components of the renovation was relocating a staircase to a second tower in the building adjacent to Montana Coffee Traders. The new location will provide upstairs access without forcing customers to enter ground floor shops.

“It had gone through some transformations, but we made it more of a retail presence,” Pastor said of the building. “It’s kind of a vulnerable thing because you put so much of yourself into creating an aesthetic statement like that. We have a personal connection to Whitefish so it matters to us that we add to the community.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.