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The Gallatin County Commission gave preliminary approval for a request for a tax exempt bond to rebuild the Bozeman blast site.

The loan will be used to rebuild at the site where the Rockin R Bar and Montana Trails Gallery used to be. The county had to review the project to make sure it was elligible under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that contains provisions for the Recovery Zone Facility Bond Program.

The request to borrow the $4.25 million from First Security Bank came from Ralph Ferraro and Mike Hope who are constructing a $5 million project on Main Street. The project has a tax exempt status on the loan which reduces the overall interest by about 2 percent.

The three-story project will stretch from 211 East Main to approximately 221 East Main in Bozeman where the explosion occurred. The F&H, LLC building that will be approximately 35,000 square feet will house a new Rockin R Bar, Pickle Barrel and Santa Fe Red's restaurant.

"The second and third floors are slated to be office space," said Mike Hope who is working on the project. "This brings people downtown to work and to enjoy downtown and use the facilities that are currently downtown. With this size of a project going in in that space we will more than double the taxable revenue that was there prior to the explosion."

County commissioners agree that the project will be a good thing for downtown Bozeman.

"This certainly as you heard from testimony benefits our economy big time," said Commissioner Bill Murdock. "We've got a big hole in downtown bozeman which will be filled and this recovery act program would help fill it."

A three-week public hearing process is required before action can be taken on a second resolution. If the second resolution passes, the project will be reviewed by the State Department of Administration and the IRS.