Building owner Mick Ruis had set a Jan. 10 deadline for preservation groups to raise $1.7 million in cash to buy the building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Local business leaders, the Montana Preservation Alliance and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy all were working toward a deal that would have spared the building [...] It is the first viable Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building to be lost in more than 40 years. — Daily InterLake
In a frustrating turn of events, Frank Lloyd Wright's Lockridge Medical Clinic — which was completed after his death in 1959 — in Whitefish, Montana was demolished overnight. The building's current owner Mick Ruis moved up his demolition plans and refused to give more time to preservation groups who were working on a deal to purchase and save the building. Ruis, a developer, plans to replace the FLW building with a three-story, mixed-use commercial facility.
“None of us are aware of why the owner changed his mind and moved up his demolition plans. It left us all scrambling to find a new cash buyer at the last minute. When none could be found, we made several appeals to the owner for more time to mobilize the many small donors from the public who contacted us [...] but he would not grant any more time,” said Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, on the Daily InterLake.
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