Will This Old Building In Downtown Billings Be Coming Down Next?

Several buildings in Downtown Billings have been demolished over the last year or so, particularly along the N 27th Street corridor, as developers set their sights on new projects.

The building next to the downtown Burger Dive was leveled earlier this summer. The Burger King on 27th St is long-gone, the Conoco station at 6th and 27th was torn down, Denny's was torn down after it caught on fire a couple of years ago, and the HUB building was torn down to make way for the Circle K convenience store upgrade (which appears to be coming along quickly).

I was running a few errands downtown yesterday, and I stopped to snap these photos of another interesting old building in this neighborhood. While I was there, I wondered if it might be next on the list for demolition.

What happened to Midland Printing?

The brick structure at 501 N. Broadway, across from the Billings Public Library and north of the massive Billings Gazette building, was most recently the home of Midland Printing.

Where did they go? I'm not sure. The locally-owned shop formerly handled a lot of printing needs for Billings Clinic. The phone number and website for Midland Printing are no longer active. The only info I could find on the internet about them is that a bookkeeper there admitted to embezzling $170,000 in 2017.

What was the building's original purpose?

I reached out to Rebecca Heimbuck, a resident expert on Billings history, to see what she knew about the interesting old structure. From the Billings Gazette archives, she shared a photo with me of it being a Montgomery Ward store, circa 1966.

The building sits on one of several parcels on that block that are owned by "BK RE 12473 LLC", the same entity that holds title to the former Burger King land.

Surely, the building is much older than that, though.

Here's where I need your help. If you know about this building and its original purpose, I would love to hear from you.

The brickwork design seems to predate the 60s. In fact, tax records indicate that it was built in 1935. I have a hunch that at one point in Billings' history, this may have been a railroad warehouse of some sort.

Here's why.

Notice there is no 5th Avenue North in Downtown Billings? It's because there once was a railroad spur that ran roughly where 5th Avenue should be. This spur, if I remember correctly, ran from the stockyard area on the southside, up to right around Division Street. Putting this old green building at 501 N Broadway directly on that path.

Reach me at michael.foth@townsquaremedia.com.