Public Meeting
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 (6:00 - 7:30 p.m)
Black Eagle Community Center
Presentation of Proposed Relocation of Children’s Museum of Montana to Black Eagle
In 2016 Cascade County was awarded a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to accomplish three tasks:
Task One - Develop access plans for Art Higgins Memorial Park and Trail Connection Strategies within Operational Unit One (OU-1).
Task Two - Develop a Land Use Master Plan for the former ARCO industrial site in Operational Unit Two (OU-2).
Task Three - Explore Long Term Management Options for operational administration of future infrastructure installations and the remediated landscape on the former ARCO industrial site within OU-2.
Several meetings were held in Black Eagle in 2017 to obtain land use ideas from local residents for redevelopment of the former ARCO industrial site, OU-2. A stakeholder group consisting of community members and local government land managers contributed to the discussions. In November 2018, WET completed a report detailing options for future land use plans based on the community input.
In the process of preparing a conceptual land use plan for OU2, the county parcel in OU2 that Stray Moose Productions currently occupies was not included, because of a long-term lease between Cascade County and Stray Moose. Recently, the Childrens Museum of Montana (CMOM) approached the County Commissioners about possibly relocating to this site when their lease with the City of Great Falls ends. Discussions with EPA, DEQ, and Atlantic Richfield Co. are currently taking place to explore the remediation needs of this property, based on the newly proposed use as a Children’s Museum.
The Commissioners believe it is important to re-engage stakeholders and the Black Eagle community to honor their previous work and recommendations on how to redevelop the former ARCO industrial site.
The upcoming public meeting will provide an opportunity for the CMOM to present their project proposals and answer any questions relating to their plans. Public comments will be taken at this meeting and through April 21st, 2023.
For additional information, contact Elizabeth Erickson (WET) at 406-723-1523 or Sandy Johnson (Cascade County) at 406-791-9275