Who Gets to Use the Columbia Falls Market Lawn When the Market Isn't There?

The Columbia Falls Community Market had until Sept. 7 to decide whether to buy the 3.5 acres it uses at 165 Veteran Drive. The Boys & Girls Club had relisted the land for $1.1 million and received a full-price offer. Under its lease, the market had a right of first refusal. The deadline has passed, and the 2026 season ended Sept. 24. As of Oct. 1 we have found no public report of the outcome in the local papers, and the City Council's Sept. 21 agenda had no item about the property.

The headlines in late August said the market could "lose its home." The lease and the buyer's commitments point to something smaller and more interesting. The Thursday market was always fairly well protected. What the deadline really decided was what happens to that lawn during the other seven or eight months of the year.

What the deadline did and did not put at risk

Here is what the record shows from before the deadline:

• The market has leased the site from the Boys and Girls Club since 2024, and the agreement runs through December 2030.
• The market said that if it couldn't buy the land, the new owner had agreed to give it either "a secured lease or a meaningful investment in the market" before the property changed hands.
• Any money raised short of the full price would still go to the nonprofit, including toward a move if one became necessary.
• None of the reports we found named the other buyer.

The market itself described the Boys and Girls Club as "an extraordinary partner," "generous, supportive, and deeply invested in its success." That matters for anyone following the story. Neither side has been cast as an adversary. A nonprofit is selling land it owns, and the tenant has a fair chance to buy it first.

So the realistic range of outcomes for next May is narrower than the fundraising pitch suggested. The open question was always about the months when the white tent is down.

The math behind a $1.1 million lawn

Executive Director Melissa Ellis set out the market's costs for the Flathead Beacon in August.

Set rent against price and the problem is plain. At about $11,000 a year, the $1.1 million asking price equals roughly a century of rent. A market that, in Ellis's words, "doesn't make a substantial amount of money" once the season's bills are paid could never get there from its operating budget. That's why the pitch went to "angel investors," and why donation accounts were set up at Freedom Bank, Stockman Bank and Park Side Credit Union.

Before the deadline, Hungry Horse News reported 108 vendors and 24,926 visitors so far that season, averaging more than 593 people an hour. Food trucks depend on that turnout. Kelly Lundie of the Wild Child Food Truck has parked at the market for four years. Riley Koppes of My Thai To Go called it a "core part" of keeping the truck running since 2017.

Owning the land would change what happens there the rest of the year. The market has subleased the lawn before, for example to Park Side Credit Union for a family day, and paid extra fees to do it. Ellis said ownership would end those fees, and the board has talked about opening the space to more public events. "We would love to open that space up and allow people to do public events there," she said.

Why the market can't just move across town

The market has already moved once. It started in spring 2015 and ran at The Co-op until 2024. That site is now home to The Rendezvous.

Ellis said the market has looked at other sites. Marantette Park didn't have enough parking. School property is ruled out because the market runs a beer and wine garden. An event that brings hundreds of people an hour on a weekday evening needs open ground, parking and an owner willing to allow alcohol. Few places in town offer all three, so the Veteran Drive lawn next to St. Richard Catholic Church is hard to replace.

Where Columbia Falls gathers until May

Without the market, gathering in town moves indoors and spreads out. Most of the regular options are businesses, and a few of them are new this year.

The Rendezvous, 810 1st Ave. W. The restaurant on the market's old Co-op site advertises free, family-friendly local live music every week, plus an Open Mic Night and a Girls Night Out. Its music page doesn't list a fall lineup yet.

Columbia Cafe, 509 Nucleus Ave. The Truong family opened it in January 2026: Tommy Truong, his brother Johnny and his sister-in-law Judy. It serves breakfast and lunch daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cowgirl Coffee's newest location. Founder Shea Fast opened the company's eighth Flathead Valley shop this summer, with walk-in and drive-through service, seating and a larger food menu. The Whitefish Pilot photo caption puts it by U.S. 2 and Sixth Avenue.

Super Natural Pet Foods, 111 6th St. W. Emily and Louie Bertino opened this pet health food store with business partner Natalie Paulsen. It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Trivia Night Tuesdays at the Gunsight Saloon, 624 Nucleus Ave. An events listing shows free trivia from 6 to 8 p.m. every week, including a Dec. 15 date. The listing was first posted in 2024, so check with the Gunsight before you go.

There are also several dated events between now and the holidays:

Night of Lights was in its 40th year in 2025. The first-Friday tradition puts this year's parade on Dec. 4, but organizers hadn't posted a 2026 date when we checked. The organizer's page lists a 6:30 p.m. parade, while last year's newspaper coverage said 6 p.m., so wait for this year's announcement before planning around a start time.

That calendar is short. Outside the Scout & Gather lot and a schoolyard in Hungry Horse, the fall and winter events are held at businesses, along a street during a parade, or online. The Chamber's November and December calendars list no holiday market or bazaar in Columbia Falls. A lawn the community controls is the kind of space that could fill that gap.

The other public ground still in progress

Two other projects bear on how much shared outdoor space Columbia Falls will have.

At River's Edge Park, the city signed a $110,933 contract with Mountain Trades Contracting for an accessible fishing pier and other platforms at the fishing pond. At the June 15 council meeting, the city manager said installation had slipped to September because of water levels and soil conditions. We haven't seen confirmation that the pier is in yet.

On former CFAC land, the City Council approved the 421-unit Teakettle Heights subdivision in June. The plan sets aside 26.3 acres of its 78 acres for open space and parkland. That parkland will come in over years, as the homes are built.

The 3.5 acres on Veteran Drive are already in use. Under any of the outcomes on record, the Thursday market will be back in May. Who owns the lawn decides whether anything else happens there in the months between.

Land changes hands for many reasons, and the people involved are often weighing more than price: an organization reshaping its plans, a family deciding what to do with an inherited parcel, a neighbor wondering what a sale nearby will mean. If you're working through a decision like that in Columbia Falls or elsewhere in the Flathead, Intuitive Real Estate is glad to talk it through plainly, with no pressure, at whatever pace makes sense for you.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.