State of Montana Newsroom
Governor Gianforte Cuts Ribbon on Montana Heritage Center
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today cut the ribbon on the Montana Heritage Center and celebrated the opening of the state history museum.
“Thanks to the generosity and hard work of many, we are now standing in a truly world-class facility, built for all people to visit, learn, and share in our state’s history,” Gov. Gianforte said. “This place tells the story of Montana and the people who built it – the spectacular and the tragic, the triumphs and the challenges. It’s great to celebrate the long-awaited opening of the Montana Heritage Center.”
Gov. Gianforte cutting the ribbon on the Montana Heritage Center in Helena
The Montana Heritage Center is home to the Montana Historical Society and currently features three galleries including the Homeland Gallery showcasing a walkthrough of Montana history dating back to the Ice Age, the Charles M. Russell Gallery, and the Changing Gallery which showcases a rotating selection of exhibits. The facility also has a library and archives research center, a café, a gift shop, and rentable event spaces.
The ribbon cutting marks the completion of the $107 million project that was funded through state allocations secured through the Montana Museum Act of 2020, private donations, grants, and bonds. During a press conference held today, Gov. Gianforte outlined the timeline of the fundraising campaign that began when he took office to secure private donations to fund the remaining $60 million needed to complete construction.
“As many of you know, when I took office in 2021, Molly came to me in the first few weeks of our administration. She told me clearly, the first time we met, that she had good news and bad news,” the governor said.
He continued, “The good news was that if I looked out my window in the Capitol, I would see that the steel for the center was going up right across the street. Her bad news was that the project was, at that time, $25 million over budget with critical construction yet to be completed. That’s when I picked up the phone and got to work, recruiting and securing private donations to complete this historic project.”
Gov. Gianforte indicated that he called every major business in the state, from mining companies to bank presidents asking for their support to raise the remaining funds without tapping into taxpayer dollars.
“Today, I’m proud to report that on my watch, not a single penny of taxpayer dollars was used to complete this project. We were able to exclusively fund the remaining budget with private funds, made by private donors,” the governor added.
Major donors to the project include the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Norm Asbjornson, and BNSF Railway that together contributed over $40 million. In addition to these three major donors, a dozen additional donors gave between $1 million and $5 million each, and another 25 donors between $100,000 and $1 million each. Last week, the center announced it completed its $60 million fundraising campaign with over 1,300 donors contributing.
During the ribbon cutting ceremony, the governor and Montana Historical Society Director Molly Kruckenberg were joined by Dennis Washington, Asbjornson, and Montana Historical Society Board President Tim Fox for a press conference.
Before concluding his comments, Gov. Gianforte highlighted the status of a continuing fundraising campaign for the Montana History & Civics Education Endowment to support field trips for students to Helena to tour the center in the year they study Montana history.
“Through the endowment, students from every corner of the state, from public, private and homeschools, will have the ability to travel to Helena, tour the Montana Heritage Center and the Capitol and take stops along the way to visit other heritage and cultural sites,” the governor said.
He continued, “Our vision for this is that in the year Montana students study Montana history, the proceeds from the endowment will underwrite the travel and accommodation expenses for every Montana student to come to this museum.”
Gov. Gianforte announced the endowment has raised $3.5 million of its $10 million goal and called on attendees to consider donating to support. Montanans interested in donating or learning more about the endowment can see here.
The Montana Heritage Center will open to the public on December 3. For more information on the center, visit montanamuseum.org. For a video recording of the press conference, see here.
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