If you've driven East Main since mid-August, you've seen the fencing, the heavy equipment and the slow loss of the old Belgrade Lounge. Why tear down a building that has been empty for years now, and what is the city planning for the block?
The demolition is one of three projects on the same stretch of the south side of East Main, the strip between the railroad tracks and Lewis & Clark Park. The other two are a parking lease with BNSF Railway and the future of Big Red, the grain elevator at 88 E. Main St. The City of Belgrade is putting tax increment financing money, staff time and a federal grant into all three. City officials have described the goal in plain terms: make the eastern entrance to town look like an entrance, not the back side of downtown.
Each project is at a different stage, so here is where they stand as of early October 2026.
| Site | Who owns it | Money committed | Where it stands | Next milestone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former Belgrade Lounge | BNSF Railway | $100,300 in city TIF funds toward remediation; total cost estimated above $350,000 | Demolition began Aug. 10, 2026 | Expected to be finished by October 2026 |
| Gravel lot along the tracks | BNSF Railway | $1,700 lease application fee | City starting the land lease process | Design this winter, construction aimed at the 2027 building season |
| Big Red, 88 E. Main St. | City of Belgrade | $550,000 in TIF funds to buy it, plus a $1 million EPA brownfields grant | Structural analysis and Phase II environmental assessment underway | Studies expected to be done by the end of 2026 |
The Lounge had to go first
The Belgrade Lounge sits on railroad land, so BNSF is leading the demolition. The city still has money in it. A TIF update prepared for the city in August 2026 says BNSF's contractor started work on Aug. 10. The city committed $100,300 in TIF funds to environmental remediation of the structure, and remediation plus demolition together are estimated to cost more than $350,000.
Mayor Mike Meis told NBC Montana in August that no business had operated in the building for several years. He said the city had been working with the railroad "for years" on what to do with it. Crews removed asbestos before the demolition started.
"I haven't really heard of any negative comments," Meis said. "We've been mostly positive. You do get that nostalgia in there with the mural and seeing things that have changed."
Part of that nostalgia comes from people. Bill Auger Jr. and his wife, Shellie, ran the Lounge for 35 years. His 2014 obituary in the Belgrade News remembered him for breakfasts, giant pecan and cinnamon rolls, and pies.
As of this writing, neither the city nor local press has announced that the demolition is complete. The schedule said the work would wrap up by October, and NBC Montana's August report said it was expected to continue through the month. Until it's done, the city has said to expect more truck traffic near Main, construction fencing, temporary changes to the gravel parking area and possible sidewalk closures on the south side of the street.
The lot that could be the bigger change
The empty Lounge footprint is the start of a larger plan. City spokeswoman Whitney Bermes told the Belgrade News that the city is working on a land lease with BNSF. The leased area would start at the former Lounge property and run east along the south side of East Main as far as the available property allows.
"The goal is to create an east-side 'sister' public parking lot to the existing public lot on the west side of downtown," Bermes wrote. The project would turn the current gravel area into a designed, paved lot.
The scale is what makes this the bigger change. At an Aug. 10 council meeting, City Manager Neil Cardwell estimated the lot could hold "several hundred at a minimum." He also suggested the land might not all become parking:
"It could be quite more than that if we are able to acquire all the way from the lounge to Oregon. And then at that point, does the whole thing need to be a parking lot or are there other things that we could consider along that? Maybe extending some park features of Lewis and Clark [Park] across the street."
Bermes listed what the paved lot would fix and add:
- Better handling of long-running stormwater and drainage problems
- No more dust, gravel and potholes
- Landscaping and trees
- More public parking, including ADA-accessible spaces
- Better parking for the Belgrade Community Library
- A fence along the south edge to separate the lot from the railroad tracks
None of this is final. The city's August update says it was just starting the BNSF lease application, which carries a $1,700 nonrefundable fee. Bermes said several steps remain with the railroad. The city hopes to finish engineering and design this winter and build during the 2027 building season.
Big Red anchors the east end
Head east from the gravel lot and you reach the building Belgrade puts on its city seal. Nelson Story built Big Red in 1891 along the Northern Pacific line, reportedly for $100,000. It stands eight stories tall and held 250,000 bushels at its peak, when Belgrade was among the largest grain receiving centers between Seattle and Minneapolis. In recent years it stored fertilizer. As the Belgrade News points out, it is no longer red.
The city bought the elevator from Nutrien Ag Solutions in February for $550,000 in TIF funds. It also owns the 3.362 acres under it, though much of that land lies beneath streets. Katharine King, the city's director of Community and Economic Development, has said realigning some of those streets could free up more of the property for other uses.
Two studies come before any decision on use:
- Montana DEQ committed brownfields resources to a structural analysis and a Phase II environmental site assessment. Early work on both was underway by August, with completion expected by the end of 2026.
- A separate $1 million EPA multipurpose brownfields grant got its workplan and budget approved in July, and its grant period started Oct. 1, 2026. King described it to KBZK as a five-year opportunity.
The Belgrade News reported that the idea for a reuse model came from Jason Karp, who retired after 30 years with the city, most recently as community development director. While traveling, Karp found a grain elevator in Carlton, Oregon, that now houses Flâneur Wines, with its vaulted interior used for tastings and weddings. King showed photos of it to the Belgrade TIF Advisory Committee on Sept. 17.
"It may be that there is a structure in which the city could partner with some private entity, lease the structure for some other use," King told the committee.
She was also open about the possibility that it won't work. Depending on remediation costs, Big Red may not open to the public in the foreseeable future. Her fallback plan is about the same goal as the Lounge teardown and the parking lot:
"At the worst-case scenario, if for some reason we are not able to reuse it ... then it would be still, I think, a big gain for Belgrade, and particularly the eastern entrance to the city, to clean up the outside of it and make it a much more attractive building."
She added that landscaping, or "if nothing more, a park," would make "a dramatic difference to our eastern entrance."
What's already open on Main
The rail side is still a work zone, but the other side of the street has been adding new things this year. Since all three city projects are meant to get more people into the eastern blocks, these are the places a bigger lot would serve.
- One Health pharmacy, 31 E. Main St. This full-service pharmacy held its ribbon cutting in late August. Bozeman Health COO Kallie Kujawa and One Health CEO Dr. David Mark both spoke about bringing affordable pharmacy services closer to home.
- The Streamline stop at the library. Public Works moved a bus shelter from an unused spot on West Missoula Avenue to Main Street, in front of the library and Lewis & Clark Park. The stop serves the free weekday Pinkline between Belgrade and Bozeman.
- Belgrade Art Gallery, 11 W. Main St. Owner Joseph Capuano opened the gallery in Suite 217 of the Mercantile Building. It sells original work by local and international artists.
Meis connected the downtown push to the airport. He told NBC Montana he wants travelers coming from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport to find Belgrade "very inviting" and to see that the town has "a lot of amenities," not just a place they pass through.
The calendar from here
Over the next 12 months, the schedules in the city's August update and recent reporting look like this:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | Expected end of the Lounge demolition |
| By end of 2026 | Big Red structural analysis and Phase II environmental assessment due |
| This winter | Engineering and design for the east-side lot, if the BNSF lease moves ahead |
| 2027 building season | Target for building the paved lot |
When the Big Red studies come back, the city will know what reusing the building would cost. Those results will also show whether the Carlton photos were a realistic model for Belgrade or a long shot.
Changes along a main street affect the blocks around it, and the east end of Belgrade has three changes happening at once. If you own near downtown and want to talk about what the Lounge site, the planned lot or Big Red could mean for your street, Ryan Martello can walk through it with you. Schedule a Consultation and we'll look at the timeline together.
