Foundation unveils monuments for Nucleus Avenue

Columbia Falls could soon have a significantly spruced up entrance to Nucleus Avenue. The Columbia Falls Community Foundation presented a plan for two monuments and other amenities that the non-profit community organization hopes will get more tourist traffic to come down the street.

The monuments will be made of concrete, which is specially cast to look like stone. Both will feature steel lettering that says “Nucleus District” while one will say “Adventure Lives Here” with the Columbia Falls logo and the other will say “Gateway to Glacier.”

The monuments will also feature a corrugated steel skirt that will rust over time and lighting that will accentuate the lettering and cast a shadow on the stone at night.

The steel, with a concrete cap, will also cover a concrete wall in front of the Hungry Horse News, so the intersection will maintain the same theme. The monuments will also feature attractive landscaping, much like the landscaping at the city’s west side Welcome Park, though one or two of the big spruce trees in front of Glacier Bank will likely have to be removed.

Pedestrian lighting would also be part of the design, with the hope to extend attractive lights all the way up Nucleus in the future.

Foundation members O’Brien Byrd and Mark Johnson presented the concept to the Columbia Falls City Council last Tuesday. Bruce Lutz designed the monuments. Council liked the design.

The Foundation will now look to raise about $30,000 for the project. There will be no cost to the city, though it does have to get the necessary encroachment permits from the state Department of Transportation for the project, since the monuments will be in the U.S. Highway 2 right-of-way.

The foundation considered rebuilding an arch across Nucleus Avenue, but it is cost prohibitive at this time.

Nucleus Avenue once had an arch over it, but it was removed when the road was rebuilt.

Attempts over the years to rebuild it never came to fruition.