Children’s Museum has selected new location downtown
Spark! Children’s Museum of Montana has leased the space 201 2nd Ave. S. with the intention of making this building its permanent home with community support.
The building is the former B&B Rental, which was listed for sale in early 2023 after the showroom closed in 2022.
“Our mission is to spark the joy of learning,” Sarah Lautenschlager, museum board president, said in a release. “Our dedicated board and staff have been working nonstop since our closure to reopen in a sustainable location to continue to serve our area’s children and families as we have done for more than 25 years.”
Previously known as the Children’s Museum of Montana, Spark! was created in 1997 through a grassroots effort led by local parents and the Junior League.
Children’s Museum closing current location while continuing search for new home [2024]
The City of Great Falls provided the museum with a lease of $1 per year at the former location at 22 Railroad Square, after a joint effort to renovate the formerly vacant warehouse with grant and donation funding.
The museum stopped operating at 22 Railroad Square in November of 2024 after the board of directors determined the most cost-efficient way forward was to cease operations at that location and seek a new home.
Spark! searched more than 12 properties around Great Falls before finding its new home.
“The search prioritized a safe, accessible space and the board of directors reviewed standards from other children’s museums and collaborated with community professionals to make sure this new home would best serve the local community,” according to the museum.
City approves lease extension for Children’s Museum [2024]
Museum officials said they’ve already started the city permitting process and expect construction to begin this summer with plans to reopen this fall or over the winter.
City staff said they met with the museum last week about remodeling the former B&B building for the museum and expected a permit application this week or next.
In the meantime, the museum is holding pop-up events this summer including:
- June 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
- July 19 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Gibson Park, weather permitting
- Aug. 16 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Community Early Education Center, 801 2nd Ave. N.
The pop up events are free and open to all, and the public is encouraged to follow Spark! on social media for updates on event locations and times.
The museum is searching for a new executive director and fundraising to make the new building its permanent home and to bring new STEAM exhibits to Great Falls.
The new space will include legacy exhibits that the community has loved for years and over time new exhibits will be added, according to the museum.
The city did not cancel the museum’s lease last fall, the board informed the city it was vacating the location.
In February 2024, City Commissioners approved a lease extension for the museum.
The museum has leased the property, formally known as the Zellerbach Building, since September 1997.
The commission approved a 15-year lease agreement for the museum on Dec. 2, 2003 with an automatic five-year renewal.
Discussions continuing about possible home for Children’s Museum in Black Eagle [2023]
The original lease required the museum to pay all utility, maintenance and repair costs of the building and its systems, according to city documents.
On Jan. 2, 2019, commissioners approved a new lease agreement through November 2023 without an automatic renewal.
Community meeting set on potential use of Black Eagle property for children’s museum [2023]
That lease gave the museum another five years to search for a new location since the city needed the building for additional office space, according to staff at the time.
Since then, the museum looked at several possible locations but none came to fruition.
For about a year, the museum worked with Cascade County officials and others to potentially use the Stray Moose building in Black Eagle as a home for the museum. The site is within a superfund site that the county is working with the former smelter company, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup efforts.
In November, the museum’s interim director at the time told The Electric they were no longer considering that location.
City Manager Greg Doyon recommended a one-year lease effective Dec. 1, 2023 that may be administratively extended for an additional year if the museum hasn’t yet relocated.
The lease continued at the $1 annual rent for the two years.
After the first two years, commissioners would annually consider and review the lease for another year and may consider market rate lease adjustments, or other modifications, according to staff.
