Copyright Kalispell Inter Lake
There is no set timeline for removing the rubble of an abandoned building that burned down in Whitefish three months ago. Once host to Snappy’s Grocery around the 1940s, and later the original Hellroaring Saloon, the Place for Steak and O'Piccolo’s Pizza in the 1990s, the fabled building at the north end of the viaduct was empty for about three decades, before erupting into flames in the evening of Sunday, July 13. It quickly became a two-alarm fire that took until the early hours of July 14 to fully extinguish. Due to the extent of the damage and the lack of evidence, an investigation of the fire’s cause was inconclusive, said Whitefish Fire Chief Cole Hadley. Whitefish Fire Department was first to respond to the fire; the investigation was conducted by Flathead County officials. A large pile of rubble including a set of wooden doors remain at the site that is surrounded by temporary fencing. It is the responsibility of the property owner to clean up the charred debris, confirmed Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs. The city is working with a representative of the property owner, Larry O’Shaughnessy, to move the process along. Whitefish City Code states that removal of prohibited waste is the responsibility of a property owner. It follows in the code that rubbish, “offensive matter,” or waste deemed by city officials to be “a menace to public health” that is not removed in a timely manner can be removed at the cost of the city, per approval of City Council, which could then be followed by a lien against the property to recollect. O’Shaughnessy owns other properties across the state. In Whitefish, he owns two lots by City Beach and one on Central Avenue with an abandoned building that was once a restaurant.
