A popular city park in Hamilton will stay where it is thanks to a special election this week.
Bitterroot Valley residents are notoriously skeptical of proposed bond issues. But Hamilton Police Chief Ryan Oster says local voters made an exception Tuesday to preserve Claudia Driscoll Park:
"If it would have been sold to a developer, that park would have gone away. Folks here like parks, and I think that was a driving factor," Oster says.
The Hamilton National Guard Armory closed last year and its detachment moved to Anaconda. That opened the door for the sale of the armory building and the six acres it and Claudia Driscoll Park sit on.
Chief Oster says many Hamilton residents incorrectly assumed the park always belonged to the city. It will now, after voters approved the $1.3 million bond issue by a vote of 689 to 487.
Hamilton officials have discussed using the armory to house the local police, city attorney and municipal court offices. Ryan Oster says bond money would not be used to pay for those proposed renovation expenses.