Nearly $6 Million in Historic Preservation Grants Awarded to 21 Montana Communities
Grants include the Red Lodge Pea Cannery and Brewery Building
By Jeffery Schlapp, Park County Dugout
The Montana Department of Commerce announced recently that 21 Montana communities will share $5.9 million in grant funding for 31 historic preservation projects. Awarded through Commerce’s Montana Historic Preservation Grant Program, the funds will be used for historic sites and history museums.
“This program stimulates economic development, community renewal, and statewide tourism through increased investment, job creation or retention, business expansion, and local tax base growth,” said Montana Department of Commerce Deputy Director Mandy Rambo. “Combined with such a return on investment, the MHPG program demonstrates the economic impact of historical resources throughout the state.”
The Historic Preservation Projects Grant Award recipients in Livingston included the KPRK Building ($250,00), Lincoln School ($300,000), and Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park County, which was awarded $200,000.
Other community projects that will receive MHPG funding are:
Absarokee: $150,000 for the Sandstone and Cobblestone Schools Complex
Anaconda: $200,000 for the Anaconda Deer Lodge County Courthouse
Anaconda: $51,000 for the Anaconda Montana Hotel
Anaconda: $250,000 for the Anaconda Elks Club
Billings: $210,000 for the Yellowstone Art Museum Main Building
Billings: $350,000 for the Shrine Auditorium
Billings: $150,000 for the Billings Depot Caboose
Butte: $200,000 for the Butte Steam Plant Event Center
Butte: $155,000 for the St. Patrick’s Mission at the World Museum of Mining
Crow Agency: $250,000 for the Little Big Horn College Apsáalooke Center for Culture and History
Ekalaka: $300,000 for the Carter County Museum
Hamilton: $150,000 for the Historic Hamilton Town Hall
Havre: $350,000 for the Hill County Courthouse
Helena: $300,000 for the Lewis & Clark County Courthouse
Hysham: $145,000 for the Yucca Theatre
Kalispell: $50,000 for Kalispell Community Thrift/Scandinavian Methodist Church
Kalispell: $50,000 for Kalispell Train Depot Building
Lavina: $250,000 for the Historic Lavina School
Malta: $100,000 for the Villa Theatre
Miles City: $150,000 for the Mountain States Telephone Building
Missoula: $350,000 for the John Engen Building
Missoula: $114,492 for the St. Michael’s Church at Fort Missoula
Missoula: $24,600 for The Recording Center
Red Lodge: $50,000 for the Red Lodge Pea Cannery and Brewery Building
Terry: $50,000 for the Prairie County Museum and Evelyn Cameron Gallery
Troy: $168,000 for the Yaak Community Hall
Virginia City: $200,000 for the Octagonal Pavilion
West Yellowstone: $300,000 for the Union Pacific Dining Lodge
In addition, $90,040 awarded in 2023 to the Original Montana Club Cooperative Association for improvements to the Montana Club in Helena was re-appropriated to the building’s new owner, Rathskeller, LLC.
Created in 2019, the MHPG Program helps communities invest in historic preservation projects as a tool of economic development and community revitalization. It is administered by Commerce’s Community MT Division and offers historic preservation technical assistance, addressing historic projects’ financial and preservation gaps. MHPG funds are invested at critical points to keep projects moving forward, catalyzing local revitalization and economic growth.
This first appeared in Park County Dugout.