Project Spotlight: The Kalispell Core and Rail Redevelopment Project

July 15, 2022

Project Spotlight: The Kalispell Core and Rail Redevelopment Project

On the Engineering Influence podcast, we’re putting the spotlight on the Kalispell Core and Rail Redevelopment Project – a 2022 EEA National Recognition Award-winning project from KLJ Engineering. 

In 2010, Kalispell received a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning pilot grant and launched a project to revitalize the Core Area, the City’s traditionally industrial-focused hub with a rail corridor stretching across its center. Dubbed the “Core Area Plan”, the initiative was unique in its public outreach. The Core Area includes 1,100 parcels of land held by 450 property owners. City staff held one-on-one meetings with one-third of the property owners whose holdings represented 60% of the land in the Core Area. Additionally, public meetings, open house events, and special presentations to community groups were held, and newsletters were produced throughout the process engaging the community at unprecedented levels. 

One particularly innovative aspect of the outreach included a five-day workshop soliciting community/business owner feedback, and culminating in “Speeder Car” rides for participating public (video here), offering a unique experience and perspective of the proposed trail, which was followed by surveys.

The Core Area Plan integrated community ideas and priorities, developed a vision, identified infrastructure needs and development limitations due in part to the brownfield sites, and then created specific strategies for revitalization. The City capitalized on the brownfields assessment and revolving loan fund grants paired with Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBA) to carry out the community vision. In 2015, Kalispell was awarded a US Department of Transportation TIGER grant, further bolstering the effort to transform the City for the next 100 years.

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