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Uptown Butte has seen some revitalization recently and it continues to progress. But empty buildings and storefronts still have a visible presence.

Nick Kujawa, president of Kujawa Development, is hoping to be a part of a change in uptown.

"We're trying to bring Butte back to its former glory in a small way. I grew up hearing stories of how Uptown Butte used to be bustling with people and these streets would be full and bar owners opened up and threw out the key because they never closed," he said.

Kujawa is redeveloping the old Sears building on Granite Street with a market on the first floor and rental apartments above it. But he says he can't be the only one doing these kinds of projects to really bring a 24-hour community back to the uptown area. And he's not the only one taking on these endeavors.

"We're really trying to bring back that feel of living in an urban city," he said.

He's not alone in his quest. Frank Cote is currently re-modeling the Mueller and Napton apartment buildings uptown.

"In their day they were kind of the premier apartments in Uptown Butte, and one of the things we really want to do is get them back to their old glory from 100 years ago," Cote said.

Several other buildings have also been recently revamped, including the Metals Bank building, Leonard hotel, Hennessey Building and more.

The O'Rourke Building was also recently bought by new owners who hope to remodel. But not every building has the same fate.

"Still a number of beautiful building in Uptown Butte that in would be great to see get back into use," Cote said.

Revamping these buildings is not a cheap endeavor. So what can motivate more people to invest in other uptown historic buildings?

"Historic preservation tax credits can be used on almost all buildings in Butte doesn't matter the size," Kujawa said.

There are also Urban Revitalization Agency funds, and something Kujawa is using, new market tax credits, but your project has to be big enough to take advantage of those.

"Four million dollars would be the minimum, but great thing about Butte, we do have a lot of large buildings that will take that much money to renovate," Kujawa said.

But everyone agrees it is a beneficial investment for the investor and for Butte no matter what the size is of your plan.

"We believe over time we're going to have a very good investment," Cote said.

"Having a 24-hour community adds energy to the community gets us more restaurants and social things to do," Kujawa said.

That 24-hour community is what they'd all like to see here.