City approves zone change for old Boys and Girls Club building

The Columbia Falls City Council last week approved a zone change request for the Boys and Girls Club, which has plans to sell its former Columbia Falls property on Fourth Avenue West to a physical therapy business.

The zone change from CR-5 to CRA-1 was requested because CR-5 (two family residential) does not allow for medical offices, while CRA-1, (residential apartment) does.

Glacier Peaks Mobile Physical Therapy plans to buy the 12,000 square foot building and remodel it. It was formerly a church before the Boys and Girls Club took title to it years ago.

The Boys and Girls Club has since moved across the street into the former Glacier Gateway School (which used to be the high school and junior high as well). Developer Mick Ruis bought the school from the district and has since donated it to the Columbia Falls Kids Foundation.

Ruis and his wife, Wendy, bought the building and surrounding grounds from Columbia Falls School District in 2021 for $550,000. He fixed the roof and the heating system and also did significant upgrades to the building, which also houses his Ruis Wrestling Academy, another organization dedicated to Columbia Falls youth.

The Foundation, in turn, leases space back to the Boys and Girls Club for $1, along with a daycare and Land to Hand, a local nonprofit that helps feed less fortunate kids in the community.

With little debate, the council approved the club’s zone change request, though there was some concern about parking.

That will be addressed when the physical therapy business gets a building permit, noted city planner Eric Mulcahy.

One resident, Matt Hutcheson opposed the zone change, saying the parking should be addressed first. He did not oppose the business, however.

But council and the applicant noted that there is available parking in the back and to the side of the structure.