The Imperial Block: February 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

Big news day for the Mai Wah

Check out the side show on yahoo news about the Chinese new year parade.

http://news.yahoo.com/page/chinese_new_year;_ylt=AhZ3jyitB0v0BaE4PA_F41.s0NUE

Also a MT Standard article about the Mai Wah

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2007/02/23/butte/hjjcjhhgjjejgj.txt

Archaeological dig among Mai Wah museum plans
By Leslie McCartney, The Montana Standard - 02/23/2007

The Mai Wah society building is shown here at 17 W. Mercury St. Standard File Photo. The Mai Wah Society has big plans for the coming year, including upgrading its museum’s infrastructure and conducting an archaeological dig on an adjacent vacant lot.The society has applied for a cultural trust grant for $17,500 which is working its way through the Legislature. The match requires $3 for every $1 of the grant so the society must raise $52,000 to secure the money.“We are working toward making some major improvements,” said Jim Griffin, president of the all-volunteer organization.The money will be used to bring much-needed water and sewer service to the historic building at 17 W. Mercury St., as well as brickwork, facade repair and window replacement.Griffith said one of the best things about the Mai Wah museum is that it is historically intact because there have been no significant upgrades and remodels in past decades.But it also means that the most basic infrastructure needs, except for a new roof put on 15 years ago, were ignored.
“It’s just amazing to go in and see nothing has changed,” he said.If the grant is given and the money raised, the group is hoping to start improvements this year.Another project is a collaboration with the county and the Urban Revitalization Agency.The groups hope to excavate a vacant lot across from the Mai Wah as part of a summer archaeological dig to obtain Chinese artifacts.With a renewed interest in vacant Uptown land, the county wants to sell the property.But first, the Mai Wah would like to search for artifacts since the site was home to Chinese homes and businesses. The Mai Wah’s will handle the educational component of the dig and be the keeper of any artifacts found there.“We have a lot going on,” Griffin said.

Monday, February 05, 2007

New Toy

Millermatic 210 MIG welder (worth every penny)

Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization help to save the Dumas Brothel

(Photo from front page of the MT Standard of me standing in a brothel, I'm sure my mother is proud.)

CPR members Dick Gibson, left, and Robert Edwards tour the historic Dumas brothel on East Mercury Street in Uptown Butte Thursday morning. The Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization have been making repairs to the roof to stop water damage in the 117-year-old building. Walter Hinick photos / The Montana Standard .

link to article
http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2007/02/02/butte/hjjcjhjhjiibjd.txt

The Dumas revisited
By Justin Post, of The Montana Standard - 02/02/2007

A Butte landmark built for sex recently had some tender loving care of its own.

A team of volunteers from the Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization recently converged on the 117-year-old Dumas Brothel to make temporary repairs on its roof.

Armed with blow torches and 45 gallons of roof patch, the group sealed cracks where water was entering the historic bordello and destroying its interior.

“It’s a job getting up there,” joked Robert Edwards of CPR during a Thursday tour of the brothel, 45 E. Mercury St. “It’s one of the scariest things I have done.” The brothel closed in 1982 and was turned into a museum to preserve the bawdy history of the city’s busy red light district.

Rudy Giecek owned the building for 15 years before closing it in the spring of 2005 because of safety concerns. He said he also suffered two strokes and could no longer conduct routine maintenance.

“It just broke my heart that I couldn’t keep it going,” he said.

Edwards toured the building at the time and noticed water seeping through the roof. He returned the next year to find the building rapidly deteriorating.

“The water was really bad,” he said. “You could see where it was tearing out all the plaster on the inside. Water was just gushing into it.” CPR agreed to earmark about $500 from its grant program, and seven volunteers participated in the repairs, Edwards said.

This spring or summer, the group plans to complete additional roof repairs to protect the building until Giecek or a new owner can begin restoration.

“I think it’s an amazing piece of history,” Edwards said. “I think it’s one of the more important buildings in Uptown Butte.” The building nearly fell into the county’s hands after Giecek said he fell behind on his property taxes. A majority of the bill was recently paid, however, and Giecek said he wants to restore the Dumas.

Giecek, who purchased the building 17 years ago, said he is seeking investors to assist in the project.

“We’re going to fix it up,” he said.

The project may also qualify for grant money through the county’s urban revitalization program after the remaining taxes, $768, are paid, said Karen Byrnes, director of community development.

The renovation will be an effort of major undertaking, but Giecek said the building is an integral part of Butte.

“It’s too important of a piece of history to lose,” he said. “It can be fixed.” — Reporter Justin Post may be reached via e-mail at justin.post@lee.net or by telephone, 496-5572

link to Butte CPR website detailing our work.
http://www.buttecpr.org/threat.htm