Building, Grants, and Bootstraps: a summer update, 2026
If you have been paying attention to what we are focusing on here at Project49, you’ll notice a great deal of our efforts art focused on Studio49, the active programming arm of our non-profit. But that is not where we started, and certainly not all we plan to do.
The Teslow Grain Elevator’s long-term success depends on becoming home to something the community genuinely values. Rather than restoring a building and then trying to figure out how to use it, we've been building a valued community organization while simultaneously completing the foundational work of repurposing the Grain Elevator. Studio49 has become the laboratory where we've tested ideas, built partnerships, and demonstrated that Livingston truly wants a place centered around creativity, hands-on skills, entrepreneurship, and community connection.
This past year has really solidified that strategy. At the same time that Studio49 has continued to grow, the architectural and engineering work on the Grain Elevator has clarified what the building can become and how we'll get there. We are now entering an exciting new chapter where we can begin inviting the community into the process, showing them where this project is headed, and building excitement for the future of the building.
To that end, I have some exciting news to share beyond just construction progress. This year Project49 was selected for two highly competitive national grant programs specifically focused on helping communities activate transformative spaces like the Teslow Grain Elevator.
The first is a $50,000 unrestricted grant through the Activate Rural Learning Lab, a program run by the Department of Public Transformation. Project49 was one of just ten organizations selected from 128 applications across Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the Native nations that share that region. Beyond the funding itself, the program includes two years of technical assistance, peer learning with other rural organizations, and ongoing support from the Learning Lab team. The funding is specifically intended to help us begin activating portions of the Grain Elevator as they become usable rather than waiting until every phase of construction is complete. That philosophy aligns perfectly with how we've envisioned this project from the beginning.
The second was an even bigger surprise. Project49 was selected for Building Common Ground: Fieldwork, a brand-new national initiative that pairs rural and Tribal communities with nationally recognized design teams. We'll be working with To Be Done Studio, a Washington, D.C. architecture firm with extensive experience leading participatory design projects in rural communities, historic places, and underserved areas across the country. Out of a nationwide applicant pool, only twenty communities were selected for this inaugural cohort. The Teslow Grain Elevator now joins an incredible group of Tribal cultural centers, historic preservation projects, and community landmarks from across the country.
Both of these selections feel like an affirmation of something bigger. Organizations with no connection to Livingston reviewed hundreds of applications from across the country and independently concluded that this building, this community, and this vision are worth investing in.
Over the coming year, the Fieldwork team will help us refine and communicate a shared vision for the Teslow Grain Elevator through visual renderings, public workshops, and community design events. Together, these two programs will also help us prepare for the capital campaign that will ultimately fund the remaining phases of construction.
Our intention is to host an event at the Teslow Grain Elevator itself before the end of the year as part of these new initiatives, and I'm excited for our community to see firsthand how much progress has been made, and how much there still is to do.
Speaking of progress, the physical transformation of the building has continued steadily this year:
We've removed more than five tons of remaining grain, permanently tied the foundation into the main structure, removed four bin floors to make room for the new stair tower, cut access openings through the interior bins, framed a new first-floor deck where the original sloped grain floors once stood, and constructed an entirely new second floor. We've also removed dozens of massive structural members that were originally designed to support stored grain. Rather than sending those timbers to the scrapyard, we're incorporating many of them into the finished building as architectural features that help tell the story of the Teslow's past.
Like any historic preservation project, we've also encountered a few surprises. Our original plan to stabilize the foundation with helical piers had to change after a test installation revealed soil conditions that made that approach unsuitable. We brought in a geotechnical engineer, completed additional soil analysis, and redesigned the foundation system around the actual site conditions. While it wasn't the outcome we'd hoped for, the result will be a stronger, longer-lasting foundation that will help keep the Teslow Grain Elevator standing for another hundred years. In the meantime, we've also fabricated the massive steel stair stringers that will form both the centerpiece of the interior circulation system and a critical structural element supporting the building.
Since Project49 took ownership of the Teslow Grain Elevator, we've now invested roughly half a million dollars into preserving, planning, and advancing this project. With the initial Montana Historic Preservation Grant now complete, we've applied for the next round of preservation funding while also leveraging the momentum created by the Activate Rural and Fieldwork grants to pursue additional capital support.
Looking back over the past year, I feel more optimistic about the future of the Teslow than I ever have. We now have a thriving community program, a clear architectural roadmap, national partners who believe in the project, and a growing network of people who want to see this building succeed. The next chapter is about inviting the community into the process and helping them see that this building has the potential to become one of Livingston's great community spaces once again.
Thank you all for your continued interest and support of this project. We are grateful to be stewards of this iconic building, and make it into something for everyone.
Josh Olsen
