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The Helena
Civic Center was built in 1920 as a Shrine temple for the
northwest area, and it was sold to the City of Helena for a
mere pittance after the 1932 earthquake. As recently as the
1980’s, all of the City of Helena offices were housed in the
building, even though it was never intended to be used as an
office building. The city leaders were studying what was to
become of the building when the day came that they moved
city offices elsewhere. A charette was held, and
suggestions were gathered from civic leaders,
representatives from the arts, businesses and other
interested parties to determine what should be the future of
this wonderful Helena landmark.
From that
charette came the City Commission’s decision to appoint an
18 member Civic Center Advisory Board in 1972.
In the
years of its existence, the Civic Center Board has raised
and spent over two million dollars in renovation and repairs
of the Civic Center building. Those fundraising efforts,
along with a huge contribution from the City Commission and
the City Manager through tax increment financing, and a
generous helping of sponsorships, moral support, and
appreciation from the public for the endeavor have made it
possible for great strides to be made towards making the
Civic Center a first rate cultural and arts facility. Since
the creation of the Civic Center Board, over 100 of Helena’s
most innovative and energetic citizens have served (18 at a
time) to ensure that the building is used and remodeled to
its full potential and is kept in good repair for the
generations to come.
Eighteen
dedicated board members and a Civic Center Staff of only six
people keep the huge facility humming along. The board
works from a continually revised Five Year Plan (the wish
list of building improvements). The Board feels they have
only gotten a good start on the potential of this facility,
and their efforts will be rewarded as they see the building
continue to thrive and be used for events that enrich the
quality of life in the community of Helena. Meanwhile these
energetic and innovative volunteers continue to hold Board
sponsored events to raise monies for the betterment of the
building.
The
proceeds from their three board-sponsored fundraisers each
year are used by the City of Helena Civic Center Advisory
Board to improve the building. The fundraisers are two
Christmas
Craft Shows
the first two weeks of November and
the
Feb
Fest
and
Artwear Style
Shows in
February each year. Entry forms for these events may be
found on this website. For more information on the
Civic Center itself and its other events, please click
here.
Other links of interest:
City of Helena
Civic Center
Downtown Helena
Helena Chamber
of Commerce
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Upcoming
Board Sponsored Events
Christmas Craft
Show
November 6, 2010
Christmas Craft
Show
November 13, 2010
Feb
Fest
(Chocolate & Valentine Fair)
and
Artwear Fashion
Show
February 5, 2011 |
