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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • FA L L 2 0 2 6
International Airport. Founded in 1960 by German-born carpen-
ter Emil Martel and his son Bill, the Bozeman-based company
has been doing expansion work on the airport since building the
original terminal in 1977. Because a working airport comes with
its own share of risks, Martel brought in a third-party fall-pro-
tection specialist to train some 130 workers in the specific safety
requirements of building around live passengers. The result is a
rare kind of continuity: the same local builder shaping the same
terminal, expansion after expansion.
The finished terminal is targeted for 2030. But its shape is already
clear, and it answers the question the airport asked itself. When
the old sections come down, their original wooden beams and
stonework aren't hauled off. They are salvaged and worked back
into the new construction, the lodge taken carefully apart and
put back together to be, as Kabalin told us, "a place for travelers
to gather." A room in which to sit and appreciate the splendors,
natural and otherwise, of Montana.
WHEN THE OLD SECTIONS COME DOWN,
THEIR ORIGINAL WOODEN BEAMS AND STONEWORK AREN'T HAULED OFF.
THEY ARE SALVAGED AND WORKED BACK INTO THE NEW CONSTRUCTION.
SHERMAN
CAHILL
(3)
