By Katelyn Teixeira
Ranger-Review Student Intern
The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame is again looking for a home for its museum and heritage center and Glendive is on the short list of potential locations.
Proposals to be the host community for the facility were due March 23.
In 2012 the nonprofit picked Big Timber for its first physical location that, if everything went according to plan, would eventually have a heritage center, exhibition hall, event center, a place to display information about the Hall of Fame inductees, an outdoor arena and more, according to a July 2017 story in the Helena Independent Record.
The organization had to pull away from the project five years later due to the discovery of wetlands on the property.
“Rather than remedy the previously undisclosed and presently unmitigated wetland issues that our board discovered through our development efforts at the site, the landowners have chosen to terminate the lease to purchase contracts,” read a July 2017 statement from Hall of Fame vice president and communications director Ariel Overstreet-Adkins.
Dawson County Economic Development Director Jason Stuart said at the February DCEDC meeting that the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center would be starting from point zero, with no location and no funding for the project.
Even so, they are ready to move forward, recently announcing they would be soliciting proposals.
Stuart said that there are only a few other cities in the running for the project.
A representative of the MCHF told Stuart that the only other cities/entities that have shown serious interest in the project are Dillon, Boulder and the C.M. Russell Museum Complex in Great Falls. The C.M. Russell Museum is proposing a type of membership to combine both museums.
At the February DCEDC meeting council member Jim Hicks asked what exactly the MCHF is looking for concerning the proposal.
According to Stuart, representatives want to know what the community can offer in terms of sustainable funding and investments moving forward.
“First thing in my mind about Glendive is we have two things that no other community in Eastern Montana has and that is paddlefish caviar grants, which MCHF would certainly qualify for, and the TBID grants,” Stuart said.
And, he also said there was a prime location to offer.
“I know from talking to Rhett Coon that he specifically had in mind the property behind the Astoria that is owned by Murray Dallas,” Stuart said.
Stuart mentioned many aspects that make Glendive a good location for the MCHF.
“Because Glendive is the first decent-sized community people are introduced to while driving in the east, it brings a lot of people coming through from other areas,” Stuart said.
He said Glendive is best positioned to capture the max number of people traveling through – people going to Yellowstone or Glacier drive past Glendive and people going to Glacier actually exit in Glendive.
Glendive already has a steady stream of tourists, with almost 100,000 visitors to Makoshika State Park.
In addition, the community hosts several events that bring visitors to town throughout the year, like the Miss Montana Pageant and Cars in the Park.
Glendive’s close proximity to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Center in Medora also provides an opportunity for people to experience both centers in one trip.
Stuart said the MCHF will let those submitting proposals know their decision by April 27.
While Stuart is hopeful that Glendive will be chosen as the location to house the Cowboy Hall of Fame, even if the community is chosen, the process of getting the project done would be a slow one.
“A representative from the MCHF said in her email that even if they pick Glendive, it is not something that is going to happen overnight,” Stuart said.