HI-Line Living: Havre's past reviewed

The Havre Historic Post Office has come a long, long way since Erica Farmer and Marc Whitacre bought it in 2012, and the work continues, though the end of major projects is in sight.

They were recently announced to be the recipients of the 2015 Montana Historic Preservation Award from the Montana Historical Society for their work on the building, which has included a near-complete make over and countless hours of work.

"We are honored," Farmer said. " ... We're proud to have it."

In September, they had an unveiling during Havre's Festival Days, where they announced they officially changed the name of the old post office to the Havre Historic Post Office.

Through grant money and their own, a piece of Havre has gained many years to its lifespan. They were awarded the $100,000 National Park Services' Save America's Treasures grant in 2012 by partnering with Opportunity Link Inc.

"I don't mean to deni-grate anyone else's project, but this has truly been a big project," Whitacre said. "This isn't a matter of reroofing a school house. ... It's taken a lot more resources and persistence because portions of the facility have basically been built from the ground up."

Whitacre said that nearly everything, if not all of the infrastructure, had to be completely brought up to speed.

"Every subsystem had to be addressed: electrical, plumbing, heating, cosmetic stuff," he said. "And you have to get a structure for the future of the building. ... All those things have to be done; it's an ongoing project."

The couple faces many restrictions in remodeling the building.

Since it is an historic building, they cannot remove or dramatically change any of the original features of the building. They may restore all they please, but the building must look as close as possible to how it did in its golden years.

"We're always about preservation of the way it is and the way it was," Farmer said.

Many features in the building could bring back memories to those who spent time there when it was still in operation years ago. The post office boxes have been cleaned and are still on display near the entrance of the building, many with original plaques with well-known local names on them.

The building still holds a jail cell and large safes in the post boxes, in addition to numerous other features that bring the building's heyday back to the present.

"Every single surface had peeling paint," Farmer said, as she toured the rooms of the building. "Every surface had to be redone."

The building now houses Havre's premier event center, and various offices in the building have been redone and rented out to Havre businesspeople. Eventually, Farmer and Whitacre will live on the third floor with their family, but they are trying to finish the rest of the building so they can put it to use before they move out of the basement of the building.

The event space has held a variety of affairs, including the reception for the premier of "Winter in the Blood," a movie filmed in the area, wedding receptions and wine tastings. Farmer said they have authors coming to the room to give readings of their work in January.

The room sits behind the post boxes and is the largest room in the building. The high ceilings are accented and lit by vaulted windows, making it one of the most memorable spaces in Havre.

Farmer and Whitacre said their work will never be totally finished, as they will always have to maintain the building.

"We'll always work on it," Farmer said.

"There will always be something," Whitacre added.

He said there will always be a broken window pane out of the thousands in the building that will need to be fixed; there will always be radiators to be restored or modified, and so forth.

However, it could be argued that if the couple were to stop working today, which at their current rate is unlikely, the building has already become both a representation of Havre's colorful past and the city's proud future.