An old, leaning barn on Mullan Road is offering a contractor a couple of more weeks of work before winter closes construction for the season.

"Funny thing is, we're out of work right now. We normally do bridges," said Duane Bauer, with Bauer and Buck Construction. "We know the owners and they wanted to give us something to do for a couple weeks."

On Wednesday morning, Bauer and a crew pulled off one shaky wing from the side of the barn. The diesel engine on a forklift hummed, and as soon as the structure collapsed, a chain saw revved to life. The team worked quickly.

Stimulus money didn't come to the aid of this Missoula contractor, which has had to reinvent itself through the years. Still, the director of the Missoula Job Service said he believes the economy will brighten in 2010. And as the crew pulled apart slabs of wood next to the old dairy barn, an old Montana Kaimin from 1930 appeared, offering hints of life during even harder times.

Bauer said his partner has been in business probably 28 years, and the company used to build commercial buildings. Diverse skills are important in this line of work, Bauer said, so the company started doing bridges four years ago.

"There were so many other contractors coming in and doing all the commercial buildings," he said.

Over the years, Bauer and Buck also have done a lot of historic preservation, in Yellowstone National Park in particular. They've moved cabins and worked on the Old Faithful Inn.

The old barn on the Tully place isn't their first such job. At least for now, the barn isn't coming down, although it leans toward the sunrise. The crew braced it inside. That way, it wouldn't tip over when they dug a claw into the roof of the wing and tugged it away from the barn.

"I know there's a lot of people who don't want to see it go. The owners have said that," Bauer said.

Of course, saving a structure can be costly, especially in these times. Rancher and neighbor John Stahl said the Tully barn used to be a horse barn and a dairy barn, but whether it can be saved depends a lot on its roof and foundation.

A barn on his own property was built in the 1880s, a log structure with notching and old square nails. The Stahls redid the roof so it doesn't leak, and they're trying to care for it. Still, some barns can't stand forever.

"There's a lot of barns that we're losing," Stahl said.

There are other buildings going up, though, and that's good news for the economy. Missoula Job Service director Wolf Ametsbichler said unemployment numbers show Missoula remains relatively well off compared with the rest of the state - and even in the downturn, some crews are busy.

"It just depends on what your project is that you're working on," Ametsbichler said. "If you're a construction company that's working on Broadway on the Garlington Building, life is good."

Unemployment in Missoula is at less than 6 percent, and the state is about one percentage point higher, he said. The national figure is somewhere around 10 percent, but Ametsbichler said he's optimistic more stimulus money will spur the economy along come spring 2010.

"My gut feeling is that things will pick up in the spring," he said. "I think it's going to be a hard winter."

In Missoula, he said one hopeful sign is that some employers are bringing on new hires. He's seeing action on the part of banks and hospitals.

"Nothing huge, obviously, but at least they're not letting people go, and at least they're bringing in a few new bodies," Ametsbichler said.

On Mullan Road, it looked like someone used old Montana Kaimin letterpress plates to insulate the walls. In the May 27, 1930, edition, one writer asked whether spending money on tuition was worthwhile. The Great Depression had begun, and an advertisement noted the best deals for graduation gifts.

"Silk Full-Fashoned Hosiery," read the headline of one ad. A regular pair for $1.95 cost just $1.50. Dance sets usually $2.50 were going for $1.95.

The workers were collecting the old Kaimins in a pile for the owners of the barn. They collected the wood for recycling if it didn't have paint. As he worked, Bauer said competition is stiff.

If the economy chugs along a tad stronger next year, that will be good news for this crew and others. Once the barn is shaved clean of the attachment, Bauer and Buck will be ready for another job, like a lot of their peers.

"There's a lot of people, a lot of contractors, who just don't have any work," Bauer said.

Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262, keila.szpaller@missoulian.com or on MissoulaRedTape.com.