GREAT FALLS — The Children’s Museum of Montana is closing temporarily as it continues searching for a new home.
Sunday, November 10, will be the museum’s last official day of operations at 22 Railroad Square in downtown Great Falls.
It will be free and open to all from noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday.
It opened on February 13, 1999, at the Railroad Square location with a 15-year lease with the city.
While the City has extended the lease several times, the building was not intended to serve as the permanent home of the museum.
The museum’s board of directors has determined that “the most cost-efficient way forward is to move from the current space into a new, permanent home.”
The Board of Directors is looking at various locations across Great Falls, with a goal of reopening in 2026.
For Joslin Knightstep, the memories run deep.
“One of my favorites [memories] coming here with my grandparents as a kid was always the clinic,” said Knightstep, the president of the Museum’s Board of Directors.
She has known the museum her whole life, but change is on the horizon.
“I’m hoping to say this without tearing up because it’s been a very emotional journey,” Knightstep said.
Saying goodbye to a place is always hard, even if you’re moving to a better place, and that’s exactly what the Children’s Museum of Montana is dealing with right now.
“We did decide that Railroad Square, while it was amazing, an amazing home for 25 years, it’s just not where we need to be going or staying in the future,” Knightstep said.
“We have a lot of plans in store for the museum,” said Laura Ewalt, the interim director of the museum. “We have a lot of things working in the works, we have an amazing board that’s very dedicated to making sure that the museum does reopen.”
Ewalt understands how important the space is to the community.
“I don’t think it’s just a space for kids,” Ewalt said. “I think it’s a space for families, parents, caregivers, even our local preschools and daycares.”
The museum will be hosting pop-up events around the Great Falls Community and will host their annual fundraiser next November.
In the meantime, they want community members to share their memories of the museum.
“We want to hear all those stories about people’s experiences and memories that they have of the museum here at 22 Railroad Square,” Ewalt said.
For Knightstep, the memories are strong.
“I was working here around 2019-2020, my sister had just had her first baby,” Knightstep remembered. “So that was our family’s kind of first full circle moment to bring my niece in.”
Knightstep is going to make sure the museum comes back stronger for her own son to enjoy.
“I am so confident and so excited that we have made the right decision in moving forward.” Knightstep said. “And then the team we have just further powers that.”
The museum is accepting donations to help with the purchase of the new location - but where that will be is not yet known.
Over the next several weeks, CMOM will be contacting their more than 300 members to discuss the transition and the option of prorated membership refunds.
If you would like to donate - or learn more about the situation - click here to visit the website, click here for the Facebook page, or call 406.836.1436.
