Mason's legacy part of Frank Lloyd Wright destruction saga

For Dan Nelsen of Fort Benton, three months of backache and a lot of pride went into the Frank Lloyd Wright building of Whitefish, which recently became the first viable building by the famous architect to be torn down in 40 years.

Nelsen was a 15-year-old whose father, a masonry contractor, informed him he was going to work that summer of 1959 as a hod carrier.

"It was some of the hardest work I ever did," he said. "I'm glad my dad had me in construction. It made me realize I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life."

Instead of his typical concrete block construction in the 1950s, the former medical building (turned bank, turned law office) was high-quality, brick construction, Nelsen said.

"I assume that was a desire of the owners," he said. "Frank Lloyd Wright is recognized as a great architect, but somethings were not so good, like flat roofs and sometimes cheap construction."

He remembered two unique features he saw built brick by brick. One was a circular, inside/outside terrarium, and the other was a "beautiful, beautiful" fireplace that anchored what had been the waiting room.

"I never saw the terrarium functioning because I was only there for the masonry portion, but it was unique," he said. 

Nelsen and his family returned to the Whitefish building a few years ago, and he's thankful to have pictures from that trip since he won't be able to take new ones.

"I believed someone would intervene, the city or, well, that something would happen," he said.

The destruction was "quite unexpected" and "depressing," Nelsen said. "I don't think anyone was expecting him to tear it down as quickly as he did. It didn't sound like he was all that excited about negotiating to save it."

Read more: Developer demolishes Frank Lloyd Wright building in Montana

One article, in Architecture Digest, called the developer "vengeful," and Nelsen said he's been hearing from people as far away as Chicago upset about the destruction. His brother, Ray Nelsen Jr., who had been an apprentice bricklayer on the project, wrote a letter to the editor pleading for the building to be saved. He called it an honor to work on a Wright project.

As for Nelsen, after a few more summers in the construction field, he became a teacher and then school administrator.