A Visit to Newly Opened Montana Heritage Center a Treat to the Senses
Author: MT43 News reporter
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Molly Kruckenberg smiled with satisfaction and appreciation at the opening of Montana’s finished historical museum, now called the Montana Heritage Center. The director of a years-long building project, Kruckenberg, rode on the tails of many Montanans who had worked since 2005 to upgrade the museum at the corner of Sixth and Roberts in Helena.
“The importance of finalizing this huge project for Montana showed at the ribbon cutting yesterday (December 02) when 400 people came to celebrate with us. The energy and excitement was really fabulous,” she said.
The Homeland Gallery, one of several, houses a menagerie of interactive exhibits with sounds to fit each exhibit, beginning with the prehistoric era. A woolly mammoth set of horns and head is shown living large with birds, fish and sea animals from Montana’s time before the Indians. In a walk through time, next comes a buffalo, grizzly bear and coyotes with appropriate growls and bellows. Montana’s eight tribal nations are well represented with videos of women making beaded and porcupine quill clothing.
One of the most interesting eras shown is metal mining all over the state, particularly at Bannack, Virginia City and Helena. Exhibits display hydraulic mining, which is mining by fire hose and underground mining. In a surround sound exhibit, the viewer goes down in a Butte copper mine with the workers. Wells Fargo Bank donated its collection of huge gold pieces to the Museum, some the size of a child’s fist. Children are afforded their own zone with a train to ride.
The State Historical Society and the Museum struggled since 2005 to increase the size of its footprint, according to the website. Beginning when Governor Tim Babcock’s wife, Betty, tried her best to move the Museum to an empty Capitol Hill Mall. Several other sites were explored until the Sixth and Roberts site was chosen with state monies to begin construction. The 66,000 square foot addition came in at $105 million, $60million of which was covered by donors such as Dennis Washington and MSU graduate Norm Asbjornson.
According to Kruckenberg, the official grand opening will take place June 25-28, 2026, with a nod to the nation’s 250th birthday. The Museum is open seven days a week with varied hours. Please visit ttps://mths.mt.gov/visit.
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Image 1 Caption: Montana Heritage Center Director Molly Kruckenburg stands in the expansive Lobby of the new center, now open to the public.
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Image 2 Caption: The exhibit in the Prehistoric section displays the actual head and horns of a wooly mammoth along with a wild pig.
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Image 3 Caption: A huge hose nozzle used to wash gold from the sides of mountains fills this display. Diamond City, in Confederate Gulch on Canyon Ferry's east side, was totally washed away by hydraulic mining.
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Image 4 Caption: Sounds of buffalo bawling and coyotes howling filled the air near this exhibit, making the experience interactive for the museum visitor.
MT43 News Photo
