HUNTLEY — A popular Huntley Project nonprofit that's been educating the public since 1972 is now seeking help from the community.
The Huntley Project Museum was left in shambles last Monday, after historic wind and hailstorms wreaked havoc on southeastern Montana communities, including Huntley.
The museum has been closed for 10 days. As the museum hopes to reopen soon, much work is needed to be done.
See the storms' damage to the Huntley Project Museum in the video below:
The Huntley Project Museum has 14 buildings spanning over 10 acres, and all need repairs from storm damage.
"(The hail) pretty much destroyed our campus... It put us back to square one. We have a lot of work to do just to get back to square one," said Neal Gunnels, the executive director of the museum.
Gunnels told MTN on Wednesday that insurance will inspect the Huntley property at the end of the week, so he hopes to reopen the museum on Monday, June 30. However, he believes insurance will only cover damages to the main building on the property, meaning the nonprofit is looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs for the 13 other buildings.
"It's a huge impact," he said. "We had several school groups scheduled this week of hundreds of kids, and we had to call 'em and say we can't do it right now."
Gunnels, volunteers, and a storm clean-up company spent Wednesday cleaning up interior damages to the main building, which mostly consisted of water damage.
Even though the museum is suffering a large financial toll, Gunnels remains optimistic in the future of the museum.
"It's sad. It hurts that we're set back so far. But yeah, we'll come back. We'll be okay," he said.
Gunnels is reaching out to the community for support. The museum is free admission, meaning sales from the firework stand and gift shop keep it afloat. Besides supporting the museum financially, Gunnels is asking for help cleaning up the damage.
On Wednesday, Janine Allen was outside cleaning up damage to provide support.
"Just volunteering my time and my effort to a good organization, that's it. You know, I can't think of a better organization right now than the museum to help," said Allen.
Allen is the activities director for the Beartooth Treasure Hunters and Prospectors Club. The club often uses the museum's venues for events, and Allen said she wants to give back.
"This is a great museum. This is a great organization, and we like to support them as much as they support us," she said.
Allen is inviting the community to a museum cleanup day on Saturday at 9 a.m. Members from the Beartooth Treasure Hunters and Prospectors Club will be at the event, cleaning up storm damage and repairing spaces. Allen said food and snacks will be provided. Community members interested in participating just need to bring themselves, and a rake, if possible, she said.
"Every time you get a chance, go out and volunteer your time for the good of society, and that's what we're doing here," said Allen.
Gunnels said he greatly appreciates the community's effort, and he will continue to be optimistic about the future of the museum.
"We've gone through this before. We will come back," he said.
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