Montana

Residents speak out against tram to the Lady of the Rockies

Posted: Sep 12, 2012 9:17 PM by MTN News
Updated: Sep 12, 2012 9:17 PM

A proposal to build a tram station to Our Lady of the Rockies, west of Interstate 90 and Butte, is receiving a lot of heat.

"Nobody has anything against the tram or the Lady of the Rockies," said Greg Fortune, a resident of the Columbia Gardens Estates in Butte. "We're just fighting their location."

The Columbia Gardens Estates sits just below the tram station site. The distance from the nearest neighborhood to the site is nearly 275 yards, approximately three football fields in length.

"We're so afraid of everything turning into more of a commercial area," Fortune said.

Commercialism is just one of Fortune's concerns. He is worried about the safety and privacy of his home.

"How do we know who is riding on the tram," Fortune said. "How do we know there's not somebody looking ‘Oh that would be a good house to break into.'"

The potentials plans include two trams that will hold fifteen people, according to Jim Lynch, president of Our Lady of the Rockies. The trams will hang low enough so tourists cannot view into nearby homes.

Fortune has also expressed concerns about the property value of his home decreasing.

"As long as this tram is maintained well and is put to good use, then the property values will not go down at all," Lynch said.

Lynch does not know when they will break ground and construction will take nearly one year. The total cost of the tram project has not been calculated.

When construction of the tram is complete all proceeds will be donated to local charities throughout Montana, Lynch said.