Silver Park Pavilions

This unique project, in Missoula, Montana, at the riverfront Silver Park, consisted of a design competition for three shelters with benches. Each is in a very different style.

Project photo montage, with voiceovers (Krista Miller Larson). Click image to view.

Local Partner
Home Resource.Org

Other Partners and sponsors
Missoula Rotary Club, Pat Clark (International Log Builders Association), Apex Engineering, Beaudette Consulting Engineers, Fearless Engineers, Missoula Redevelopment Agency, Missoula Downtown Association, Missoula Parks and Rec, Missoula Osprey Baseball, many more (judges Scantlings 136), C.S. Porter Flagship Youth Program

Local TFG hero
Jennifer Anthony

Notable aspects
Reclaiming and re-use of sunken timber from the Blackfoot River. Design competition: winners are Jeremy Bonin (high funk factor: outward-canted posts supporting four valleys); Joseph Scarpa and Benjamin Nia (Japanese-inspired, with benches built in); Jeffrey Stahlecker (round logs; fabricated by our colleagues in the International Log Builders Association).  Three raisings in one project.  Compound joinery, square rule layout, shop production, round-to-square, onsite safety.  

Repeated bouts of graffiti required park personnel to fence off the three pavilions.  Jennifer Anthony partnered with community organizations, enlisting the help of at-risk middle school students at the C.S. Porter Flaghip Youth Program, to clean and coat the pavilions with Ecological Coatings' EC 180 anti-graffitti coating.  The pavilions have remained open.

TFG leaders
Curtis Milton, Mark Gannat, Caleb Larson, Rocco Bellebuono, Alicia, Isaac McCoy-Sulentic, Dave Kaplan

In-kind donors
Northcott Woodturning, GRK Fasteners, TimberLinx, Hilti Group, LandArk, Dennis Hambruch of Mafell NA, Suzie Orr, Colleen Rudio (food, housing); Ellen Buchanon, Geoff Badenoch (logistics, fundraising)

Blogs

• Blog post from Bonin Architects 

News

• Silver Park shelter project prepares to build / Missoulian
• Timber-frame pavilion going up in Missoula's Silver Park / Missoulian

Tube

• Silver Park's timber pavilion / Missoulian video
• Drone flight above Silver Park / Dave Eggert

Photographers
Krista Miller Larson, Geoff Badenoch

Narrative
Scantlings 135, 136, 142, 154, 170