BUTTE — Back in August, many Butte residents were upset that the repair work being done on the wall at Leonard Field was not historically accurate. Well, officials at Montana Tech heard these complaints and are now re-repairing the wall with its original rock to maintain its historic authenticity.
“We were putting in a retaining wall which was the most inexpensive remedy to the wall, and we heard some complaints and understood,” said Montana Tech Chancellor Les Cook.
The contractor Pro Fit Masonry also heard the grumblings and approached the Butte university with a plan to do away with the retaining wall and use the original rocks with fresh mortar. Cook said he was happy to change the project.
Leonard Field was built in 1931 and served as Tech’s field for football and other athletic events.
“Obviously, we’re a historical city and you know we’re proud of our history here at Montana Tech as well,” said Cook.
The university wanted to act quickly earlier this summer to repair the wall out of concerns that the original was in a critical state of disrepair.
“Because one of the concerns we have with the decaying that we would have to close down part of this space and, obviously, this field not only provides play space for our students but there are a lot of activities that happen here for our community,” he said.
Butte resident Mike Judd likes to play with his dog at Leonard Field and is happy to see the wall returning to its original look.
“I think it looks great, I’m really glad they kept it back to the historic value of that wall because that’s an amazing history of that wall when it was first built,” said Judd.
