Frank Lloyd Wright preservation group seeks building rescue

WHITEFISH, Mont. – The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is making an 11th-hour effort to save one of the last buildings designed by the famous architect.

The conservancy said developer Mick Ruis agreed to sell the former clinic in Whitefish, Montana, for $1.7 million – if he gets the money by Jan. 10. He purchased the building for $1.6 million in 2016 without knowing its history.

The Daily Inter Lake reported an attorney for Ruis said asbestos removal is underway at the Lockridge Medical Clinic Building in preparation for its demolition.

Conservancy director Barbara Gordon said the Chicago-based organization has been working with the Montana Preservation Alliance and others to try to save the brick building designed by Wright in 1958. He died in 1959.