LIVINGSTON - If you're driving into Livingston, you can't miss the Yellowstone Granary that is under construction on East Park Street.
After years of sitting vacant, developers are converting it into something that members of the community can finally enjoy.
Chris Salacinski and Jordan Zignego are part owners of the 100-year-old Yellowstone Granary which was once fully operational.
"I purchased the building probably, gosh, six years ago, and it sat," said Salacinski. "And then the partnership formed. We grouped together and decided to repurpose it into some long-term rentals.”
“What drew me to this project is that people are tearing these down across the nation and we wanted to preserve it,” said Zignego.
The newly restored Granary will be home to 17 apartments which will be listed at market price, preserving the original Granary as much as they can.
“This is really the architecture of Montana," said Zignego. "It's not the log cabins, it's these granaries. These are truly rural cathedrals, and to honor that integrity is the primary purpose of this.”
Salacinski says restoring this Granary into apartments not only keeps the building up but helps relieve some of the housing problems in Livingston.
“I used to own the Teslow," said Salacinski. "At that point, I bought it three or four years ago and sold it to a nonprofit group to preserve it, because at that time throughout Montana, they were tearing down granaries."
For Zignego, it's all about keeping construction and the preservation of the building local.
“It's just a tight-knit group of people that are local and want to preserve the past of something in town,” said Zignego.
The Yellowstone Granary apartments will start taking reservations in June and plan to open on Sept. 1.
