Two historic buildings being renovated to add to artists group
The Leaning Tower of Pizza really does lean.
And several doors down on Basin Street, the newly christened “Emmabell,” formerly known as the Colombe cabin, is a bit crooked too.
With the help of structural engineers, Basin resident Bryher Herak, who recently purchased both buildings, is shoring up and reinforcing those two iconic structures — with an eye to making them part of the Montana Artists Refuge.
It was during the isolation imposed by the pandemic that Herak and two other Basin residents, MJ Williams and Nan Parsons, decided it was time to get the Refuge going again.
Herak also wants to preserve the Leaning Tower and Emmabell log cabin, as they are two of several historic buildings in what was once a center of gold and mining operations in the 1890s to early 1920s.
Herak said they had begun getting calls from artists during the pandemic, asking about the Refuge.
The Montana Artists Refuge operated from 1993 to 2015 and offered residencies to artists of all kinds — visual artists, musicians, composers, dancers and more. During that time, Herak ran the High Note, an espresso and breakfast place in town that doubled as a venue for the resident artists to perform and show off their work.
The Refuge ended in 2015 when grant funding ran out, said Herak.
The Refuge includes two buildings along Basin Street, the Dyott and Hewitt.
Williams is the co-owner of those two buildings, which provided artist studios and apartments for resident artists.
Herak plans to do the same with the Emmabell, or “E,” named after her aunt who died last year at the age of 101. The log cabin itself will provide two artist studios and Herak plans to build two apartments in the back for the artists to stay during their residencies.
The Leaning Tower, which was well-known for its tasty pizzas, will provide a venue for social gatherings and performances, said Herak.
The building is currently gutted on the inside, but the original pizza ovens remain. Herak wants to keep those, and has talked with the company who manufactured them, Hobart, about crafting replacement parts, as the ovens are so old that parts are no longer kept in stock.
Plans for the Leaning Tower of Pizza include outdoor dining, as well as a bar and seating indoors.
Herak said she is grateful to former Leaning Tower owners, Bruce and Lisa Giulio, for leaving the restaurant with a good reputation for great pizza.
“I look forward to carrying on that tradition,” said Herak, an attorney and mediator, who added that she’s been studying up on pizza and making dough in her spare time.
Herak also found an older espresso machine while staying in Seattle earlier this year and plans to offer espresso and light breakfasts as well as pizza and beer.
The rehabilitation of the Leaning Tower and the Emmabell are being privately financed, said Herak.
Other Basin residents involved in the Montana Artists Refuge include Nancy Owens, and Melissa Kwasny, who, along with M. L. Smoker is the current poet laureate of Montana.
Herak said the group is still working out the details on how artists will be selected for residencies, and Williams said there are already several coming this summer — composer Eric Moe and his wife Barbara Weissberger, and composer, pianist and singer Cynthia Hilts.
“I’m really looking forward to having more artists in town and doing fun stuff,” said Williams.
Herak plans to have the Leaning Tower and Emmabell up and running by early fall. She doesn’t know if they will remain open over the winter and it depends on need.
“We just don’t know yet if there will be artists who want to be in Montana in the winter. It will cost more to stay open in the winter so it will just depend on what the demand is,” she said.
In its heyday, the Refuge attracted artists, musicians and more from all over the United States and Europe.
“It was a blast,” said Herak.
Now it is their hope to revive that creative energy and bring it back to Basin.
“We just want to have a good time,” said Herak.
