BUTTE — While filming of the 1923 television series in Butte closed down the Butte Civic Center to the public for much of last year, officials say it is ready to reopen to the public and will be hosting several events.
“We’ve got Empty Bowls, we’ve got a circus coming, we’ve got Mayfair, so a lot of our yearly events are coming in and we’re filling in with a lot of other events,” says Civic Center General Manager Bill Melvin.
King Street Productions is renting the Civic Center for six months in 2023 to film the second season of the Yellowstone spinoff right after Butte High School’s graduation on June 2. However, from mid-January until June, the main floor of the Civic Center will remain open and will host more than 20 events. This will include the State AA Basketball Tournament March 9 -11.
“That basketball tournament is a big economic driver for the community,” says Melvin.
The production is paying $75,000 a month to rent the facility beginning in June and continues to use the annex building for storage. They’ve been using the main arena for film sets, but are removing them for the first part of the year.
“They are cleaning this building from the top to the bottom and making sure we get it back in the same shape as they got it,” says Melvin.
The product company plans to invest in improvements to the Butte Civic Center once they're done using it. That includes upgrading the sound system and repaving and expanding the north parking lot.
“We’ve gained hundreds of thousands of square feet of parking, it’s awesome, so it will be very good for this facility,” he says.
