HELENA — The Memorial Park Apartments were demolished last summer, and since then, the lot has sat empty. Viewer Lloyd Dopp wanted to know what is going on with the boutique hotel planned for that location, so MTN found out.
According to Helena Community Development Department director Chris Brink, the city approved a few variances for the proposed hotel project this past spring, although construction plans have not be submitted yet.
Previous reporting from MTN states construction of the boutique Bell Hotel was expected to be done by summer 2023.
One of the developers of the Bell Hotel project, AshLy Tubbs, told MTN in an email that “the project is still very much in the works.”
The Bell Hotel will not be the first hotel on that site. According to local history website, Helena As She Was, Treasure State Court was built there in the 1930s. Then, in the 1950s, it was renovated and rebranded as the Bell Motel.
Eventually the site housed the Memorial Park Apartments, which were demolished in 2022 after sitting empty since 2016. Demolition cost about $350,000, and half of that was funded by tax increment financing money.
