‘A vibrant and welcoming place’: Montana Heritage Center director paints opening day picture

Summer adventure seekers in the year 2025 who manage to wander over to the newly opened Montana Historical Society’s Montana Heritage Center will be treated to a sprawling trail through rugged Montana geography and equally rugged history.

Matt McCullogh, a project coordinator for the Montana Heritage Center construction, surveys the high-density storage system being installed in the museum’s basement Sept. 22.

Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com

For now, the museum and its massive addition that necessitated the decommissioning of a city street and about $104 million remains under construction.

The 66,000-square-foot addition on the building’s north side is expected to be substantially completed in April or May 2024. A complete renovation of the original Veterans and Pioneers Memorial Building is anticipated to wrap up in early 2025.

Museum staff will then work with outside firms to design and install the more than 30,000 square feet of new exhibit space, expected to be completed in August or September of 2025.

Montana Historical Society Director Molly Kruckenberg said during the tour of the site on Sept. 22 that after about three years of construction, COVID-related cost increases

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