FINANCING OF PROJECT
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The City of Kalispell and FCEDA are combining to pay $11.18 million for water infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure, storm water management, utilities, grading, engineering and design, surveying, mobilization, traffic control, easement acquisition and legal/administration costs.
Kalispell and FCEDA will partner to provide this match. The money is derived from tax-increment finance (TIF) dollars and FCEDA funding. Another major source of funding is $10 million from a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. The grant is a highly coveted funding source for which only select projects are nominated, based on criteria that factors in need and merit. |
Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation has received 6,700 applications for TIGER grants, and has only approved 381, including the Core & Rail Redevelopment project, which was announced by Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in October, 2015.
The TIGER funds are directed toward improvements on Flathead Drive and East Oregon Street, a traffic signal at U.S. Highway 2 and Flathead Drive, rail in and out of the rail park, development of the linear park’s trail system, and four complete street connectors. BNSF Railway has also pledged $500,000. |
ATTRACTING WORKFORCE
To attract young professionals and working-age couples who will raise families here, Kalispell must not only address the issue of jobs with better wages but also lifestyle considerations. The Core & Rail Redevelopment provides solutions to both.
The Flathead Valley’s labor force struggles to meet the demands of employers, and that trend isn’t expected to disappear over the coming years as baby boomers retire. So Kalispell will have to compete to attract and retain a workforce, particularly an educated one that seeks high-paying jobs.
Cities across the country, including ones with similar industrial backgrounds like Bend, Oregon, have demonstrated that modern workforces prioritize both lifestyle, such as outdoor recreation, and economic factors. The linear park answers the lifestyle question, while the Glacier Rail Park addresses the economic side of that equation.
Just because baby boomers are retiring doesn’t mean they will be taking the workforce with them. Kalispell needs to offer incentive for a new wave of eager, educated workers to move here, and the Core & Rail Redevelopment provides that incentive on multiple fronts.
The Flathead Valley’s labor force struggles to meet the demands of employers, and that trend isn’t expected to disappear over the coming years as baby boomers retire. So Kalispell will have to compete to attract and retain a workforce, particularly an educated one that seeks high-paying jobs.
Cities across the country, including ones with similar industrial backgrounds like Bend, Oregon, have demonstrated that modern workforces prioritize both lifestyle, such as outdoor recreation, and economic factors. The linear park answers the lifestyle question, while the Glacier Rail Park addresses the economic side of that equation.
Just because baby boomers are retiring doesn’t mean they will be taking the workforce with them. Kalispell needs to offer incentive for a new wave of eager, educated workers to move here, and the Core & Rail Redevelopment provides that incentive on multiple fronts.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
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The economic benefits of the Glacier Rail Park and linear park are far-reaching, with impacts that will extend into future generations. Together, the parks build the infrastructure necessary to attract private investment, which will bring improvement to a wide range of economic sectors, including manufacturing, housing, retail, dining and entertainment, agriculture and more.
Far-Reaching Benefits, Impact for Generations |
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Northwest Montana needs improved rail access for freight movement in order to diversify and strengthen the economy. The Glacier Rail Park solves that need by allowing regional businesses to capitalize on a valuable asset: location within the Great Northern Corridor along the BNSF Railway main line that connects to national and international markets, from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest.
Not only will the rail park create the infrastructure and framework for both new and expanding industrial businesses, it will dramatically reduce shipping costs, which are as much as 30 percent higher for businesses in the Flathead than in other markets. |
Example after example proves that a healthy modern city needs a healthy core.
The Core & Rail Redevelopment will remove railroad tracks that are currently contributing to traffic congestion by cutting through the heart of Kalispell, while also developing and redeveloping a corridor that is underdeveloped and, in some places, blighted. This will attract private investment to an area that badly needs it. The trail, meanwhile, will provide an alternative transportation route for bikers and walkers that is both healthy and safer, for pedestrians and motorists alike. Not to mention, the aesthetics will be far more appealing to shoppers and diners, encouraging further private investment in the downtown area. |
