MDF Launches Spirit Of Place Campaign: Heritage Trail Dinner Tours Feature For October

Local Media
October 5, 2020

 

MDF LAUNCHES SPIRIT OF PLACE CAMPAIGN:
HERITAGE TRAIL DINNER TOURS FEATURE FOR OCTOBER

 

Downtown Missoula is many things to many people, and the new Heritage Missoula Plan showcases the collective fabric that defines and distinguishes Missoula from other places. With the goal of enhancing Missoula’s Spirit of Place, the Missoula Downtown Foundation’s annual fall campaign will be focused on creating authentic Missoula experiences that help preserve that Spirit.

 

Funds raised from the fall campaign will help with implementation of the new Heritage Missoula Interpretive Trail, complete with bronze medallions and information kiosks that tell the unique stories of Missoula: past and present. Funds will also help with street décor expansion and improvements, including additional holiday lighting and boulevard banners.

 

New this year will be the first-ever Heritage Trail Tours and Dinner at one of three fine dining restaurants in Downtown Missoula. Offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in October, the Heritage Trail Dinner Tours will feature a 90-minute guided walking tour paired with a three-course dinner for $100 per person. Dining partners include the new Pangea Bar & Restaurant at 223 North Higgins, Second Set Bistro, a hidden gem in the Historic Florence Building at 111 N. Higgins, or Scotty’s Table in the Historic Wilma Building at 131 S. Higgins. All three restaurants will offer a curated menu served in a socially-distanced and responsible environment.

 

Tours will be limited to 10 people per event to ensure attendees have an enjoyable and safe experience with appropriate COVID protocols. Online registration is open and available: https://www.missouladowntown.com/spirit-of-place/.

 

“We are pleased to work with our partners to offer a special experience for those who want to help preserve and showcase Missoula’s Spirit of Place,” said Jared Kuehn, President of the Missoula Downtown Foundation Board. “Our goal is to generate enough funding to finish the bronze medallions and interpretive kiosks for the Trail and to support the expansion of holiday lighting and street décor. These projects are important, and the Foundation’s work is vital to strengthening the connections between people and place.”

 

The mission of the Missoula Downtown Foundation is to support and promote Missoula through enhancement of Downtown, now and for future generations, through commerce, heritage, culture and living. Since 2010, the Missoula Downtown Foundation has raised and reinvested $1.3 million into Downtown projects and programs, including Caras Park improvements, the lighting of the pedestrian bridges, placemaking projects, master planning, street décor and the Downtown Business Support Fund.

 

This past spring and summer, the Foundation raised and distributed over $100,000 in grants for Downtown businesses through the Downtown Business Support Fund. Last month the Foundation completed the Heritage Missoula boulevard banners in partnership with the Lee Nye’s “A Corner of Space & Time” banners that went up last week.

 

The Missoula Downtown Foundation is one of the three organizations affiliated with the Downtown Missoula Partnership. The other two are the Missoula Downtown Association and the Downtown Business Improvement District. Other components of the Spirit of Place Campaign will come alive in November with the Festival of Trees and the Lighting of the Tree, and December’s focus will be on end-of-year giving.

 

The MDF has two planned giving options: the Caras Park Endowment in partnership with the Montana Community Foundation and the Sustainability Fund in partnership with S.G. Long.

 

For more information about the Foundation, the Spirit of Place Campaign, the Heritage Trail Dinner Tours or planned giving opportunities, contact the Downtown Missoula Partnership via phone (406-543-4238) or email ([email protected]).

 

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