BUTTE — Here in the lobby of the old Curtis Music Hall in Butte, well, it doesn’t look like much now, but back in its glory days, this was one of the most beautiful buildings in historic Uptown Butte. Now, this building is being restored and brought back to new life.
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“It’s really well built, good solid building. We’re happy the owner wants to spend her money in Butte, save a historic building and bring it back to life the rest of the way,” said Contractor Clay Howery of Clay Howery Construction of Butte.
The ornate building near Park and Main was built in 1892 by Irish-born businessman John H. Curtis during Butte’s copper boom.
“Some of the architecture in the building is astounding. It’s probably one of the best commercial buildings in Uptown there is for the amount of architecture there is on the exterior of this building,” said Howery.
The plan is to restore it to a multi-use building with a commercial space and 14 apartments.
“They’re going to be top shelf, I mean, gorgeous apartments with tile and granite counters and all the amenities somebody’s going to want,” said Howery.
Curtis built it as a music hall when Butte at a time when Butte was infused with new wealth.
“Yeah, 1890s, Butte was quite established. We had our copper boom, multiple entertainers come here, including Charlie Chaplin,” said Lindsay Mulcahy of the Butte Public Archives.
The building’s owner Peggy Guccione has restored other historic buildings in town and the contractor expects this project to be completed in about two years.
“They’ll be occupiable and useable and functional hopefully for another 130 years,” said Howery.
