The Holter Museum of Art in Helena will get its new roof, with help from a $315,000 state grant announced this week.
The Montana Department of Commerce said Nov. 10 that Lewis and Clark County will receive the money through its Community Development Block Grant Economic Development program. Under that program, a county or town applies on behalf of a business or nonprofit and then passes the money along, either as a loan or, for nonprofits, as a grant. The county will grant the funds to the museum for a roof replacement at its building at 12 E. Lawrence St.
“This grant from Commerce will help replace our historic building’s roof — protecting irreplaceable collections, preserving jobs and sustaining programs while safeguarding the museum’s financial stability,” Holter executive director Christina Barbachano said in the Commerce announcement.
The program is tied to jobs. The county’s application, approved by commissioners after a public hearing on July 30, says the project supports keeping nine permanent full-time-equivalent positions at the museum, according to county Resolution 2026-83. The resolution also commits the Holter to putting up matching money.
A leak that moved up the schedule
The Holter had planned to spend about a year and a half building a capital campaign for its roof and two exterior walls. That changed after the museum documented faster deterioration in the roof structure, according to the museum’s “Raise the Roof: Protect the Art” campaign page. Problems it listed included failing flashing that left about 30% of the original stone parapets exposed, failing sections of membrane, especially on the west side, and signs of moisture getting in.
The museum set a goal of raising $350,000 in under six months and finishing the roof before Thanksgiving, noting that Montana construction windows are short. It said it already had $70,000 in insurance claim money set aside and was pursuing grants and business sponsors. Any money raised beyond the cost of the roof, it said, would go into a fund for future maintenance.
The building dates to 1896. The museum uses it for rotating exhibitions, its permanent collection, education programs and a steady calendar of community events, and its campaign page describes the roof work as the most urgent of its building needs. The Holter promised donors that every campaign dollar would go to the roof and that givers would be recognized in a permanent display in the museum.
Neither the state’s announcement nor the county’s resolution gave a construction start date. On paper, the grant plus the insurance money tops the $350,000 the museum set out to raise, though the Holter has not published a final project cost.
Who can use the program
CDBG economic development grants are open to Montana counties, incorporated cities and towns, and consolidated city-county governments. Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula are excluded because they receive their own block grant money directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Commerce Director Marta Bertoglio said the grants “stimulate economic development activity by assisting Montana’s private sector to create projects that help strengthen our communities and retain jobs for local residents.” Besides grants to nonprofits, the program can offer businesses low fixed-rate financing with features like payment deferrals and interest-only periods, run through their local government.
Barbachano tied the roof to downtown more broadly, saying the investment “strengthens downtown Helena’s vitality, supports tourism and ensures the Holter remains a safe and welcoming place for generations to come.”
The Holter sits just off Last Chance Gulch, a short walk from the downtown walking mall. Current exhibitions and hours are on the museum’s website. For another recent federal grant landing in a Montana town, see our story on the Columbia Falls meat co-op’s USDA award.
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