Parking lot set to be done early June

The final steps for the new parking lot in downtown Bigfork are almost set in stone.

At this point, organizers behind the fundraising effort to install the lot expect it will be ready this summer to serve patrons of the arts in time for the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts’ 2021 season.

“We’re not quite there, but we’re close enough to say we are,” Walter Kuhn said last week. He’s overseeing the grading of the new lot on behalf of the Center.

Kuhn and the board at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts have been laying the groundwork for the parking lot for about three years.

In total, the entire undertaking comes in at approximately $1.6 million—and Kuhn said the group is just a few dollars shy of reaching its total fundraising goal at this point.

Kuhn admitted it’s a little “frightening” to think back to all the time and money that has been poured into the project, but it’s also exciting to reach a point where the lot is finally close to going into place.

“I’m going to be very happy that it’s done,” Kuhn predicted.

Hundreds of other Bigforkers, and visitors from across the valley, will no doubt share Kuhn’s enthusiasm when the parking lot opens up for its first guests.

Located prominently at 355 Grand Drive, near the intersection of Grand Drive and Electric Avenue, the new parking lot will have two tiers with space for a total of 74 vehicles.

Since parking is at a premium in the tiny bayside town, the much-needed parking lot will be sure to have an immediate impact on the surrounding area.

Kuhn said the lot should be “paved and ready to go for the first part of June.”

It couldn’t come at a better time, since Bigfork is a decidedly seasonal destination where the population swells dramatically during the summer months.

And the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts, with its 435 available seats, will welcome the new parking infrastructure as it gears up for a return to live performances this summer. The center hosts the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre and the Bigfork Community Players.

It’s taken help from a lot of different sources to get this close to completing the project.

The costs of the endeavor—particularly the $1.25 million land acquisition—would have been hard to overcome without a patchwork of donations from supporters near and far.

Numerous local donors pushed the fundraising effort towards the finish line, including Flathead Electric Cooperative, individual members of the Bigfork community—who together gave almost $500,000—and the Bigfork Community Development Foundation. Kuhn said the Bigfork Community Development Foundation gave more than any other single donor to the parking lot effort.

“Without them, it would not have happened,” Kuhn stated.

The project even attracted out-of-state support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a Washington nonprofit that donated $166,000 to help build the parking lot.

“We are grateful to play a small role in helping improve accessibility to the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts and expanding access to their outstanding programming and performances,” Murdock spokesman Steve Moore said last June.

Support for the project hasn’t been limited to financial contributions, either.

Students with Flathead Valley Community College’s Heavy Equipment Operator program performed most of the grading for the two-tiered lot, and FVCC classes are currently putting the finishing touches on the project.

The Knife River Corporation was responsible for much of the rest of the construction work, including lighting, irrigation, landscaping and paving.

Overall, Kuhn said, it has been the “tremendous community support that made it possible.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.