RELEASE: Commerce Awards Historic Preservation Grants to 31 Montana Communities

Montana Department of Commerce sent this bulletin at 06/29/2023 09:30 AM MDT
montana department of commerce
Paradise Center

The Paradise Center - Paradise Mont.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 29, 2023

CONTACT: Mitch Staley, Montana Department of Commerce

Commerce Awards Historic Preservation Grants to 31 Montana Communities

More than $10 million of grant funding will improve historical sites, historical societies and history museums in Montana

HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that 31 Montana communities will share more than $10 million of grant funding for 44 historic preservation projects. The grants, awarded through Commerce’s Montana Historic Preservation Grant program (MHPG) will be used to improve historical sites, historical societies and history museums in Montana.

“It is important for us to showcase our state’s rich history, as well as the culture and heritage that created Montana as we know it today,” said Scott Osterman, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce. “Montana Historic Preservation Grants help Montana communities increase economic development, community revitalization and statewide tourism through added investment, job creation, business expansion and local tax-base growth.”

In 2021, the Paradise Center was awarded $123,220 of MHPG funding to install an interior elevator and renovate a restroom to be ADA compliant.

“MHPG funding helped us make our historic building fully accessible to individuals with mobility constraints, while protecting its historic nature through the discrete installation of two passenger lifts and the renovation of old restrooms to be ADA compliant. We can now accommodate the needs of everyone and share the full history of the area with residents and all visitors. We are so very grateful for this historic preservation assistance, which will serve generations to come,” said Karen Thorson, Paradise Center Secretary of the Board.

Project improvements may include infrastructure repair, building renovations, maintenance, remediating building code issues, security enhancements and fire protection.

The following community projects will receive Montana Historic Preservation grant funding:

  • Anaconda: $235,000 for the Copper Village Museum and Arts Center
  • Baker: $160,000 for the Baker State Bank Building
  • Billings: $100,000 for the Acme Building
  • Billings: $414,400 for the Billings Depot
  • Billings: $500,000 for Moss Mansion
  • Billings: $ 236,000 for the Babcock Theatre
  • Browning: $500,000 for the Blackfoot Spiritual & Heritage Center
  • Butte: $500,000 for the Kelly Block Building
  • Columbus: $500,000 for the Stillwater County Courthouse
  • Deer Lodge: $283,500 for the Deer Lodge City Hall
  • Fort Peck: $500,000 for the Fort Peck Theatre
  • Glendive: $116,000 for the Charles Krug House
  • Great Falls: $340,000 for The History Museum
  • Great Falls: $400,000 for the Rocky Mountain Building
  • Great Falls: $250,000 for the Great Falls Civic Center
  • Great Falls: $300,979 for the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art
  • Hamilton: $100,000 for the Daly Mansion
  • Harlowton: $375,000 for the Harlowton Roundhouse
  • Havre: $359,672 for Havre Beneath the Streets
  • Helena: $90,040 for the Montana Club
  • Joliet: $83,000 for the Joliet Town Hall and Courthouse
  • Jordan: $400,000 for the Garfield County Museum
  • Kalispell: $31,000 for the Hockaday Museum of Art
  • Lewistown: $100,000 for Oullette Place
  • Lewistown: $270,000 for the Waite House
  • Libby: $173,659 for the Historic Hotel Libby
  • Livingston: $392,277 for the Historic Teslow Grain Elevator
  • Malta: $221,590 for the Edward & McLellan Block
  • Miles City: $119,688 for the Miles City Convent Keepers Community Center
  • Miles City: $200,000 for Miles City Elks Lodge #537
  • Miles City: $500,000 for the Milligan Building
  • Missoula: $175,200 for the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
  • Missoula: $100,000 for the Lenox Flats Building
  • Missoula: $300,000 for the National Museum of Forest Service History
  • Polson: $70,351 for the Miracle of America Museum
  • Red Lodge: $136,366 for the A.D. Whitcomb Garage
  • Red Lodge: $367,578 for the Roosevelt Center
  • Ringling: $141,773 for the Ringling Church
  • Shelby: $5,600 for the Shelby Town Hall
  • Virginia City: $141,250 for the Coggswell-Taylor House
  • Virginia City: $161,201 for the Hickman House
  • Walkerville: $25,000 for the Walkerville Community Market
  • West Glacier: $493,200 for the Wheeler Cabin
  • Winnett: $498,720 for the Petroleum County Courthouse

Eligible applicants for the MHPG program include incorporated nonprofit organizations, incorporated cities or towns, associations, counties and tribal governments. The next application cycle for the MHPG program is expected to be in the fall of 2023 with a tentative grant deadline of February 28, 2024.

For more information, visit comdev.mt.gov.

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