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Gianforte: $57.3 million raised privately for Montana Heritage Center – Daily Montanan [1]

['Daily Montanan Staff', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2023-10 

The state of Montana raised an historic $57.3 million in private donations for the Montana Heritage Center, set to open in 2025, according to a joint announcement this week from the Governor’s Office and Montana Historical Society.

The newly renovated center includes a 66,000-square-foot addition to and the renewal of the historic 70-year-old Montana Historical Society building.

Montana Heritage Center The building will feature 30,000 square feet of interactive, immersive, and engaging exhibits. In addition, it will provide a 250-person event center, an expanded research room, café, and museum store, additional storage for art and artifacts, and an enlarged exhibit fabrication workshop.

In a news release Tuesday, the governor also announced an endowment campaign to provide every Montana student the opportunity to visit the Montana Heritage Center and state Capitol upon the completion of the renovation and expansion.

“The first lady and I are overwhelmed by the generosity of Montanans and friends of our state who share our vision for a world-class Montana Heritage Center,” Gov. Gianforte said in a statement. “To preserve our treasured past with an eye to the future, we are proud to kick off the Montana History & Civics Education Endowment.”

The endowment will provide grants to public, independent, and home school students to visit the Montana Heritage Center, the press release said. It said the endowment will also support Montana Historical Society staff who will coordinate students’ field trips.

Montana Historical Society Director Molly Kruckenberg noted that studies show field trips help students retain information and make connections between what they are learning in the classroom to the larger world.

“Tours of the Montana Heritage Center and the Montana State Capitol will improve students’ understanding of civics, connect them to the history and heritage of their home, and encourage them to become the stewards of tomorrow,” Kruckenberg said in a statement.

The Governor’s Office said nearly $2 million has already been privately raised for the endowment, including $1 million donated by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. The Washington Foundation also donated $25 million for the construction of the Montana Heritage Center, representing the largest gift in the Montana Historical Society’s history.

At the ceremony Tuesday, the governor recognized other donors to the Montana Heritage Center, including Norm Asbjornson, who gifted $10.4 million, BNSF Railway, which gifted $5 million, and the Arthur M. Blank Foundation, which gifted $1.4 million. Barrick Gold Corporation, Thomas Nygard and Sons, Tim and Carmen Sheehy, and Westmoreland each gifted $1 million.

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