The Museum of the Rockies (MOR) in Montana – an educational facet of Montana State University – is making progress on its $60 million plan to expand and renovate facilities as it works to annex a nearby parcel of land to facilitate development.
The acquisition of the property would be the latest step in the museum’s efforts to fulfill its Master Plan vision, enabling the museum to connect to city water and sewer services. For the past three years, the MOR has been working to modernize its exhibit spaces and renovate the building’s layout to better resolve capacity and flow issues.
The updates would bring the museum closer to meeting the needs and expectations of a modern audience, centering visits around experiences as opposed to observing artifacts behind glass displays. To that end, the plan outlines the addition of a paleo discovery center and moving classrooms space from the basement to the second floor.
The museum will reconfigure how to better use the 34-acre site outside the museum’s walls. Concepts the MOR will consider implementing include enhancing the living-history farm, creating an outdoor event space and adding more outdoor exhibits.
The MOR also plans to reconstruct and reorient its building entry points. This will primarily revolve around shifting the museum’s entrance to face the north, allowing it to more easily welcome foot traffic and directly connect with the rest of the Montana State University campus. The museum is also considering moving its parking lot to align with the new entrance.
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