Commerce Awards Historic Preservation Grants to 31 Montana Communities

June 29 2023

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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