Two historic Billings properties hit the market recently, and if you buy them both, your commute won’t be very long.
The Rex Hotel building at 2401 Montana Ave. and, just behind it, the Fargo Hotel building at 14 N. 24th St., are both on the market. The Rex is listed for $5,850,000 through Coldwell Banker, and the Fargo will run you $679,000 at NAI Global.
Back-to-back, these two properties operated as hotels in the early 1900s, as their original names suggest. And they’re still standing, though that’s not through lack of trying.
The Fargo was built in 1915. But it was in shambles by the late ’70s, a shadow of its original glory. Lauren Hunley, the community historian at the Western Heritage Center, said that the building, “housed a few grocery stores early in its history, but nothing too notable. In 1959, it was the site of a police capture of robbery suspect Frank Buck, after a massive manhunt.”
In 1972, the owner of the building was taken to court for operating a hotel without a license.
Donna and Phil Morrow purchased the building in 1977 and refused to let the historical building crumble. According to a Gazette edition from that year, they’re responsible for gutting the hotel and transforming the first floor into a retail space and the second floor into office space.
They dished out $60,000 for the building, which was in poor condition then. Written into their contract of sale was a stipulation requiring the new owners to renovate the building, not to tear it down. According to the article, previous owner Adeline Johnson loved that hotel, and “had so much faith in the value of preserving old buildings that she rejected cash offers from buyers who had parking lots on their minds.”
It’s passionate people — Johnson and other likeminded individuals — with a calling to preserve local history that Montana Avenue’s historic architecture still stands today.
Like Johnson, current and long-time Montana Avenue business and real estate owner Mike Schaer has taken a vested interest in the stretch of historical street and has made it his objective to revitalize the district into a walkable neighborhood of cuisine and culture.
When Schaer relocated his Computers Unlimited headquarters to 2407 Montana Ave. in the late ’80s, the street was a far cry from what it is today. But he saw its potential.
It was The Rex bar that initially attracted him to the street.
“We were located at the Broadwater Shopping Center for several years and after work, we would tend to go downtown to The Rex bar and restaurant … So, we said maybe we ought to move down here,” Schaer remembered. “It was very popular.”
“The Rex Hotel was bult in 1910 by Alfred Heimer, Buffalo Bill Cody’s chief curator for the Wild West Show and had a rotating bar location during Prohibition,” said Hunley.
According to a historical plaque in front of the building, “Cody helped finance the project and was a frequent visitor to the hotel. In 1917, Heimer petitioned the city to add a third floor and an extension onto the building. The original pressed tin ceiling is still visible on the first floor. The one-story wing to the east was added in 1998.”
The location has historically been a purveyor of food and drink.
Schaer is a member of the Historic Montana Avenue Association, which is predominantly made up of business owners on the street. They’ve made a continual effort to propel the street into the future while preserving its historical significance.
Efforts to transform Montana Avenue from an unsafe, neglected area to a vibrant downtown corridor of community include a multitude of ongoing community engagement, infrastructure modifications to deter loitering, beautification additions including trees and planters and security measures, like LED lighting and the hiring of a private security firm.
“It’s clean and safe, with lots of businesses that are really good, all of them run by good people who work hard,” Schaer said.
The next step, he said, is to make the corridor’s historic designation more prominent for visitors to the area to see. Schaer said the association is in the fundraising stage of efforts to build an official Historic Montana Avenue over the street at its intersection with 27th Street.
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Lillian Palmer
Business and Health Reporter
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