Historic Name:
Electric Building
Current Name:
Montana Power Building

Builder:
unknown

Original Use:
Stores, offices
Current Use:
Brewery, restaurant, offices

Physical Description:
The Electric Building is a three story commercial building with Classical, Egyptian and Gothic influences. The building is constructed of common red brick, but fronts west onto N. Broadway and is faced on that primary façade with glazed white blocks. Rising six stories above the street, the building held power company offices on the first floor, and office suites above.

The primary façade is dressed with smooth enameled block, organized in an arrangement reminiscent of an Egyptian temple. The central block of the façade is crowned by a cornice supported and ornamented by bracketing that forms a row of Gothic arches. Below this, tiers of double-hung, 1-over-1 windows are placed between pilasters with simple capitals. To either side, tiered windows and battered pilasters create a tower-effect by framing the center. However, the hallmark of the building was in the vertical panels that separate the floors and cap the pediment. Each is formed of translucent white block, and was illuminated at night by lighting behind the glass.

The entrance to the upper floors is located at the north corner on the front. An elevator and stairwell occupy this corner. On each level of the I-shaped building, there are office suites in the front and rear, with a central corridor and side offices in the connecting space.

The storefront appears to have had a recessed center entrance. It has been modernized, and now holds a restaurant. However, the interior retains much original detailing, including square columns with egg-and-dart capitals and high ceilings. On the east, the building opens onto a rear alley. Brick is stuccoed on ground floor, and historic doorways are infilled with newer exits. The sides of the building tower above the neighbors and modern painted signage is visible.

Historical and Architectural Significance:
The Electric Building is a monument to the rise of electrical power in the 20th century, and an important anchor in the northern portion of Billings' downtown. It represents the pattern of commercial expansion to the north from its origins near the NP depot, after the GN Railway built into the north end of town and the economy mushroomed. It is a beautiful eclectic revival design, masterfully conceived and beautifully executed. The lighting of the façade was the ultimate symbol of the growing importance and reliance of our culture upon electricity. Montana Power, the company that erected the building has powered the entire state with electricity since just before this building was built. Over the decades they have emerged as one of the state's largest and most powerful corporations. On a statewide level, it is the building which most eloquently expresses their dominance and service to the people of the state.

It also helped set the character of classically-influence in this northern corridor of the downtown during the 1910s and 1920s. For all these reasons, it is an excellent candidate and recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Photo Courtesy of Paul Whiting