Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art (The Square) has broken ground on their historic attic preservation efforts. In May 2023, The Square was awarded a substantial grant through the Montana Department of Commerce. The Montana Historic Preservation Grant was awarded for bat mitigation, clean-up, and bat exclusion in the historic attic as well as repainting 154 exterior windows of the historic building.

The museum began its “Go to Bat for The Square” fundraising campaign in 2021 with a vision for this extensive restoration and preservation project to mitigate an on-going problem, and to bring the museum to a reimagined future that showcases its historical and architectural integrity for generations. 

For nearly a half-century bats as well as rock pigeons have been roosting in The Square’s attic space and have caused health and safety concerns for staff and patrons and a potential for structural building issues long-term if the project was not mitigated. The Square’s Attic space is part of the bats migratory pattern, and they roost in the attic between the months of late May through late September each year. The project will be complete by early spring 2024, before the bats return for the summer season. This project is being completed ethically.  

The first phase of the Historic Attic Preservation Project began September 25th, 2023, and is expected to be completed October 11th, 2023. This phase includes the large attic cleanup project and removal of decades of items that have been contaminated with bat and pigeon excrement, and then deep cleaning the attic space including walls, ceiling, floors, and beams. Dayspring Restoration uses heavy equipment to gain access from the ground to the attic windows, where items will be removed. 

Built in 1896, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art’s building has long served as a center for learning and culture. From a school building to a cultural center and art museum, The Square has evolved over the years to serve the community. 

Once the attic is safe for use and after the projected multi-month clean-up and mitigation portion of the project is complete, The Square will begin to develop a future plan for the reuse of the attic and offer tours of the magnificent space. To learn more about this project, visit www.the-square.org/bats.

Author: Staff

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