Cooper's 'low-profile' design going up fast

Construction has started at 115 Central Avenue, and there’s hardly a controversial cobblestone in sight. Progress is quickly being made at the building site south of the Red Caboose diner, as crews look to take advantage of warm weather while it lingers.

Plans for the lot, owned by local developer Tom Donahue, call for the current Cooper’s restaurant building to be remodeled into a multi-use structure, with dining and retail on the ground floor and offices or apartments on the upper level.

Donahue said he elected to build a two-story building with 13,211 square feet of space. The ground level of Cooper’s Eatery & Drinkery will feature a lounge and bar facing Central Avenue that seats 50 guests. A dining room and courtyard facing the alley will be in the east half of the main level.

Plans call for a 1,556-square-foot dining room with French doors leading to the 1,071-square-foot courtyard. A retail space along Central Avenue will be located in the northwest corner of the main level.

The building began as Stumptown Station before being remodeled into Truby’s Wood-Fired Pizza. After Donahue’s International Capital Partners development company took ownership, plans were presented to the city for a four-story, 53-foot high office building called The Lofts at Cobblestone.

The Whitefish City Council turned down the project after debate ensued about the maximum height of downtown buildings.

The final decision was to limit buildings on Central Avenue between Railway and Third streets to 45 feet with three stories. The city’s Architectural Review Committee eventually approved Donahue’s third design for the site — The Offices at Cobblestone — but the project was halted by the economic recession.

The most recent design avoids the height controversy by topping out at just over 26 feet. The upper level will house offices and banquet facilities, with an elevator and stairs offering access, but it can be converted to four apartments ranging in size from 789 to 2,209 square feet.

Richard Smith, of Red Horse Art and Architecture, designed the building. The mixed façade will feature stucco, wood siding and brick with cedar trim, and the roof will be capped by a triangular sign reading “Cooper’s” that will overlook Central.

Architectural Review Committee chairman John Constenius said the design has been approved with only minor changes requested.

“It has a low profile and is designed to complement the existing building,” Constenius said. “The committee was pleased with what we saw.”

The committee requested a canopy at the retail entry, adding awning transom windows to the lounge and adding a painted area at the top of the north wall.

The bar will remain open during construction. Corpron & Corpron is the general contractor. Completion date is around Jan. 15.