Hotels, Movie Theatres and Mallrats

Kalispell Retail Development Moving Forward

By Kate Downen, 5-03-06

Construction on the 46-acre site on U.S. Highway 93 called Hutton Ranch will begin in July after a final approval by the Kalispell City Council on Monday to develop about 30 acres of the land. The site, which is north of Kalispell between Flathead Valley Community College and Mountain View Plaza, will include a movie theatre complex, a Hilton hotel and a new Sportsman & Ski Haus, along with a number of retail shops and an office building. This stretch of highway, between Kalispell and Whitefish, is one of the fastest growing--and most visible--retail areas in Flathead County.

In other Valley development news, talk has quieted so much on Tennessee developer Bucky Wolford's $150 million super mall that people may be forgetting about it. The mall was proposed in 1999 and has since been the topic of heated growth controversy, as well as the center of a number of lawsuits. If constructed, the mall would be the largest in Montana. Local papers aren't saying much, but talk in town by mall proponents--in giddy hush-hush tones--is that the mall is on track for construction after a couple more lawsuits clear the way.

That considered: Teenagers, put on your makeup and get your best outfit ready; Kalispell may just be on the way to having an Eden Prairie Mall of its own. Ahhh, the smell of commerce in the morning.

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