Davall Building comes down; dated back to 1890s

A piece of Columbia Falls history was torn down last week. Owner Mick Ruis had the old Davall Building taken down after it couldn’t be salvaged.

Ruis said he wanted to initially save the building, but after having it inspected by structural engineers, it was too far gone.

The building had a crumbling foundation made of river stone and a leaking roof. It had been empty since 2006, when Charmaine Davall closed down her store there.

Ruis said he has plans for a new three-story building with residential units on the upper floors and retail on the base level.

“They’re going to look like they belong downtown,” he said.

The Davall Building was one of the oldest in the city. The business was established by the Tate, Poss & Co. in 1891-92, according to a story in the Oct. 30, 1964 edition of the Hungry Horse News. At the time, it was likely the oldest continuous running business in the same location in Flathead County.

When first built, it was a hardware and furniture store and was known as the “Montana Store.”

City leader T.O. Elsethagen became associated with the store in 1898 and was co-owner by 1905. Elsethagen, with a partner, changed the name to Carr-Elsethagen and sold groceries, clothing and other goods. Carr-Elsethagen sold it to Louis Bauer and H.H. Davall purchased it from Bauer in 1945. H.H. and Alice Davall ran a general mercantile after purchasing the building, which their son Don later took over. The building would eventually house a hardware store and then Don’s locksmith shop and Charmaine’s Antiques.

All three of Charmaine and Don’s daughters, Karen Huston, Diana Pulec and Leslie DeVriese, worked in the stores at one time or another.

Charmaine and Don have since died.

Ruis bought the building in 2015 from the Davall family.

He also recently remodeled the Park Mercantile Building on Nucleus Avenue and has plans for a new retail-townhouse development adjacent to the Park Merc next to the Columbia Bar. He’s also been working on remodeling the former Kaplan Law offices in downtown.

Earlier this year he finished the Cedar Creek Lodge and Convention Center located off Second Avenue West. In the course of the past year, Ruis has invested millions in new construction and remodeling in Columbia Falls.

He said he’s still not completely decided on what to do with the former First Citizens Bank building. He wants to get some plans laid out and approved before he moves forward. It could be a restaurant, or it may also be torn down. That project is a couple of years out, he said. He didn’t want to have too many buildings demolished in the city center all at once.

He said his intent is to help downtown. He’s single-handedly invested millions in the city already, more than any one businessman has invested in Columbia Falls in decades.

In a separate matter, the Whitefish Credit Union, which owns the former Clean Cars dealership and old Pizza Hut building are demolishing those two structures, confirmed CEO Jim Kenyon on Monday.

Kenyon said the credit union hasn’t made firm plans for the site, but wanted to get the old buildings down.

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