HELENA — In the Securities Building in Downtown Helena, Montana Historical Society has just opened up its brand new gift shop.
The gift shop takes the place of the former gift shop that once sat inside the Montana Historical Society museum.
“We decided to come down to the Walking Mall because we want to have a presence in Helena. And we also want to be in a historical building and the Securities Building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places,” says Eve Byron, Montana Historical Society’s Public Information Officer.
Currently, the museum is under construction as they create the Montana Heritage Center, a $100 million project that is projected to be completed by sometime in the summer of 2025.
“Construction is going gangbusters. They've, you can see the outside that they have created a lot of the new building. And now they're just working on the interior fixtures and things like that. We're working on displays, exhibits, different things of that nature,” says Byron.
The downtown gift shop has Montana-centric items including historical books, cards, huckleberry products, t-shirts, stuffed animals, and more.
Byron says the new gift shop is self-sustaining, meaning that the profits of the gift shop completely fund the shop itself without taking from tax dollars.
