Citizens who attend the dedication of the newly remodeled Byron Town Complex Saturday will see a building that has been transformed from a dusty old storage building into a town hall and multi-use complex that may well be the envy of towns across Big Horn County.
The complex, which encompasses the former town hall offices and the old Byron school lunchroom, with a new connecting hallway in between, includes town and police offices, a dazzling council chambers room, a new town museum, a town meeting room with kitchen and plenty of space in the basement for the Byron Recreation District.
Both buildings now included in the complex once rested on school property, said contractor John Schneider of 5J Contracting. The old town hall, now a museum, was the school ag shop, and the lunchroom building, now housing the town offices and rec district space, was used until being moved across Pryor St. on railroad irons in 1965, Schneider said.
“That was quite a feat for 1965,” he said.
Schneider said his biggest challenge was the demolition part of the remodeling. He said his crew hauled at least 100,000 pounds of plaster, partition walls, flooring and concrete out of the old lunchroom building.
“It was totally gutted to the bare walls,” he said.
Over the years, after being moved, the lunchroom building was used for various things including serving as a video arcade and as a laundromat. In recent years it was used for storage.
“It was just full of junk,” Schneider said.
A tour of the complex finds the mayor’s office just inside the main entrance, town offices with a customer counter, a large council chamber room with new chairs, a large council table and a projection system, a separate office for the chief of police, a community meeting room with a small kitchen, and a handicapped entrance to the rear of the building leading to a lift that can take a wheelchair to the council chambers.
The old town offices in the former ag building will house the Byron town museum, and trophies from the history of Byron High School will be on display in the museum.
In the basement of the town office building will be the Byron Recreation Dept. area with plenty of space for activities and lots of shelves and cupboards for storage. Also in the lower level will be the offices of the Byron Drainage District.
There are separate men’s and women’s restrooms upstairs adjacent to the council chambers and a unisex restroom in the basement.
The complex also has a new heating and air conditioning system, new indirect lighting and new insulated windows.
The inside work is almost completely finished, but there is more work to be done outside. Schneider said new curb and gutter and sidewalk will be installed in the front, and the rear parking lot will be paved.

The Byron Town Complex dedication ceremony will take place Saturday from 3-5 p.m. and will include remarks by Rep. Elaine Harvey, letters of congratulation from Sen. Mike Enzi and Gov. Dave Freudenthal, the recognition of people involved in the project, remarks by Town Clerk Vicki Gibson and Mayor Milton Meier, a history of the building and project by Gary Gruell and tours of the complex. Refreshments will be served.