BUTTE — The third floor of the Carpenter’ s Union Hall in Butte had been abandoned and neglected for so many decades, they actually had pigeon feces as high as the window sills. But over the past seven years, volunteers have worked hard to revitalize the building.
It’s now being used and they’re going to include an elevator so the old-timers can have access to this historic building.
“I’m getting older. With all the work we’ve done upstairs, I’ve climbed these stairs hundreds of times and it would sure be nice to have an elevator,” said retired carpenter and Carpenter Union member Mike Boysza.
Volunteers started making repairs on the building, which was built by the Carpenter’s Union in 1906. The upper floors had water damage and fell into disrepair after 40 years of neglect. Restoring the building was a labor of love.
“Oh, it’s such a glorious building and with such a long history, we’re just the latest stewards of it. I don’t know, I felt an obligation, a compulsion to just fix the place, you know? I wanted to see it in use again,” said Carpenter Union Board Trustee Clark Grant.
Boysza added, “We currently have five unions that are still housed inside this building, so it’s still the state’s—and I believe the nation’s—oldest active labor temple.”
The union also wants to make the building ADA-compliant by adding an elevator to the outside of the building that will give access to the ballrooms on their second and third floors. They are close to the $400,000 goal and plan to host a Brewfest fundraiser in the parking lot on Oct. 5.
Preserving historic buildings is a passion for Grant.
“For me, it’s just painful to see boarded up windows and falling brick and, especially, when buildings come down, it’s just sad, you know—we lose part of our history and we have another parking lot,” he said.
