Boulder is competing with five other Montana communities to become the home of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman said last week.
Other communities vying for the facility are Glendive, Big Timber, Great Falls, Choteau and Dillon.
The county and city submitted a proposal that calls for construction of the center in Boulder, probably at the I-15 interchange. The facility would be jointly owned by the two jurisdictions, managed by a board including the county and city, and leased to the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Wortman, Boulder Mayor Rusty Giulio, County Event Coordinator Bruce Binkowski and Tom Harrington of the Jefferson Local Development Corporation made a trip to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame before submitting the proposal. That facility attracts about 15,000 paying attendees annually. Net income in 2017 was about $132,500, with funding coming from donations, endowments, memberships and funding campaigns in addition to the admission charges.
Wortman and Harrington both expressed optimism that Boulder has a good chance of being granted the project, which would be a “major boost” for the community and county.
