Whitefish clinics plan expansion to C-Falls
Glacier Medical Associates and OrthoRehab Physical Therapy of Whitefish are eyeing Plum Creek Timber Co.’s former office complex in Columbia Falls — known as the “Cedar Palace” — for a full-service medical clinic, but the zoning on the property needs to be changed to accommodate such a business use.
The Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board on Tuesday will hold a public hearing to consider a proposed zone change from light industrial to general business zoning. The 23.8-acre property at 500 12th Ave. W. includes the offices, data center and adjacent parcels of land.
The property is currently owned by Weyerhaeuser, which completed a merger with Plum Creek in 2016, but has been vacant since the timber company shut down its Columbia Falls lumber mill, sawmill and corporate offices in 2016. Weyerhaeuser continues to operate the Medium Density Fiberboard plant located at 105 Mills Drive.
The proposed zone change would allow the use of the former corporate offices to be used for a medical office facility.
“The Columbia Falls community is undergoing an exciting time of revitalization enhanced by new infrastructure, park expansion, walkability, business investment and modernized livability options,” Glacier Medical Associates said in a statement to the Inter Lake on Friday.
Glacier Medical Associates and OrthoRehab Physical Therapy, both independent health-care providers that operate in the same building on Baker Avenue in Whitefish, said they “are excited to be a part of this dynamic change.”
They plan to redevelop the Cedar Palace property into a “community asset, offering full-scale primary care, urgent care, physical therapy and other ancillary medical services in a single, convenient location.
“Glacier Medical Associates and OrthoRehab share Columbia Falls’ heritage of independence in the Flathead Valley,” the statement continued. “Patient-centered, high-quality, full-scale outpatient health care that helps patients remain independent and age in place is precisely what this joint venture offers,” the statement noted.
Both companies hope to be in the new space by the spring of 2020. Interest from other locally established medical practices to fill out the remainder of the 35,000-square-foot facility has been strong, the clinic noted.
Plans for the data center and additional land are still under consideration.
Two years ago the Flathead County commissioners considered purchasing the property to build a new county jail there. At the time the asking price was $2.6 million. The commissioners dropped the idea after stiff opposition from Columbia Falls residents surfaced during community meetings.
The public is invited to comment about the zoning change request at the Planning Board meeting or submit written comments to City Clerk Barb Staaland at 130 Sixth St. W., Room A, Columbia Falls, MT 59912.
The Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. in the Columbia Falls City Council Chambers, 130 Sixth St. W.
Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.