Aithne's Studio is located in 
Suite 310 of the Washington Building,
1015 1st Ave N.
Great Falls, MT 59401

In January of 2009, after sharing dance space with other groups in a couple of locations, and the conflicts that accompany sharing space, the idea for a private studio came into being. Aithne and Tammi decided to split the rent on a place, if they could find one. Every day Tammi was home, we hit the road. Driving through sections of the city scouting For Rent signs, checking the classified ads, and finding nothing. We had looked at several commercial buildings, checked office and warehouse rentals, and generally had no luck finding an acceptable place that was affordable and elegant. Things were getting pretty discouraging. 

Then one day Aithne's mom spotted the 'Precision Pilates' sign in the Washington building window and figured "Hey, if there is space for pliates, there might be other space for rent".  She got the phone number and passed it on to Aithne, who investigated.  The building is gorgeous. It is an old school, that has been very well restored, and it had an available rental!  Aithne called Tammi (who was headed in the direction of Helena at the time), ordered her to make a U-turn and come check it out with her.  While the majority of the building was in beautiful shape, the rental in question was....not.  While it was pretty pricey compared to our budget, it was no more expensive than some broom closets we had looked at.  Fortunately the owner was willing to work with us, and promised to replace the broken windows and hundred year old rotting window frames with new energy efficient ones if we rented (which he has since done).

We dickered and dithered for a couple of months before signing the lease, and then the work began.
You can click on any of the little photos below for a larger view.

When we started, the studio was a pigeon and bat infested hole with peeling paint, broken windows. The bats still make an occasional appearance if someone leaves the fire escape door open for a few hours.	The roof had leaked (the building now has a very nice rubber roof) and paint was peeling off in sheets, while being stuck to the ceiling as if super-glued in other places.	There was a dividing wall in the room, cutting the room neatly in half.  Joe and Ed, the wonderful maintenance guys, tore it out for us--returning the room to the original size it had been when it was a classroom.	Tammi called in some favors, and managed to score some lackeys who scraped paint for DAYS.  High school boys make great lackeys--they work for Pizza!
Greg did his Michelangelo impression.	For a very long time.	This is a restful lounging area with pillows and a low table...in kit form. Some assembly required.	Pre-mirrors.  Ready to slather some paint on.  The lighting was pretty harsh--probably needed if you don't want students to fall asleep when they are sitting there all day.  Fortunately belly dancers don't have that problem because we move!
Paint applied, the future color scheme is starting to make itself known	We went scrounging, and bought Great Falls second hand stores (and most of Billings) out of mirrors.  Eventually Tammi replaced them with mirrors all the same size, but the eclectic assortment worked surprisingly well for the first year.	View Larger Map CAPTION
The lighting was kind of harsh, even though it is a North facing wall, so...	Tammi added drapes.
LOTS of drapes	Joe put up some lights on the ceiling fans so we could decommission the huge humming florescent lights, and classes started.