BUTTE - In December of 2024, the EPA awarded Butte-Silver Bow $20 million to build a community center right here. But, five months later, the EPA took the money away, but city officials say the dream to build the center here is not dead, and they got a little help to keep it alive.
“We’re really confident we’re going to get it back on track. So, we’re going to work forward to do that, Butte is always supportive of taking care of kids and community, so we’re going to get this done,” Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said.
WATCH: Butte community center project moves forward with new $100,000 grant
Butte received a $100,000 grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to fund preliminary designs and plans for the Community Hub project. Over a year ago, Butte was awarded the EPA’s Community Change Grant, but it was rescinded under the Trump administration.
Gallagher said it’s his goal to find the funding to complete the project.
“There are other grants and things out there as well, there’s federal grants and there’s other organizations that do grant funding around some of these facilities, so that’s what we’re looking at, we’re looking at every opportunity that’s out there,” he said.
The recent donation will be used to redesign the original plan.
“There were components that were specific to the Community Change Grant that are no longer there that added quite a bit of cost, so now we can take some of those components out of it,” Gallagher said.
The project could cost $20 to $40 million, and Gallagher is confident the money can be raised over the next two years.
