" A reader wrote today "To put the museum in the shopping mall is bad thinking. This location is between two of the busiest thoroughfares in Helena, 11th Avenue and Prospect. A museum collects and exhibits artifacts honoring our past. To place this important collection right in the middle of the hubbub and commotion of our modern lives does not make good sense." This statement couldn't be further from the truth. Putting the museum in the middle of all the hubub is exactly where a museum should be. It's an insane idea to put a new museum downtown. No one goes downtown, except to go to work. Helena's downtown is a dead downtown, thanks to the eyesore of a walking mall. And finally "And finally, the museum is far more than a money making tourist attraction. The museum is a collection of Montana’s historic memorabilia, to be enjoyed and cherished by Montana citizens and area visitors. The main mission should be to collect, categorize, display, and enhance our historic treasures, not merely make a buck off of them." As it is now, probably 3/4 of the museum's collection is in storage for NOBODY to see. However, it is catalogued, which is apparently okay with the general population. Store if for safekeeping, they say. I personally would love to be able to see all of the magnificent Bob Scriver bronzes, except I don't have access to the museum's storage facilites. The MHS has never been about "making a buck." It's always been about teaching Montanan's their own history. Museums need money to function, so it's time Helenan's throw their support into putting the MHS in a new home in the mall. Put Dillards and JC Penny downtown...then maybe people would actually spend some down there! "