Filed Under Helena

Boiler Plant

Montana State Capitol Campus Historic District

The 1895 legislative act that allowed construction of Montana’s state house included provisions for heating the building. Capitol Commissioners decided a separate heating plant would be required. Built in 1901, the first plant included a brick smokestack. In 1912, a taller concrete smokestack replaced the original to accommodate the new wings and raise the plant’s emissions above the Capitol Building. Until the 1930s, the plant provided steam heat to all the campus buildings. After 1936, most new buildings housed their own boiler systems. In 1968, this building replaced the first boiler plant. Built just west of the original plant, Helena architects Morrison-Maierle and Associates designed the sleek, modern building. It features scored concrete block walls that resemble the Capitol’s rusticated foundation. An attractive metal Mansard-shaped parapet hides the plant’s utilitarian flat roof. Careful placement of the building and artful landscaping allow it to blend into the landscape and protect views of the Capitol Building. A 1998 addition, designed to exactly match the original building, doubled the plant’s capacity. It continues to heat the Capitol and several other campus buildings.

Images

Boiler Plant
Boiler Plant Boiler Plant. Front to side view of the building, facing southwest on North Roberts Street with a view of the Capitol Building in the background. Digital photograph. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 2006
Boiler Plant
Boiler Plant Boiler Plant. Side to rear view of the building, facing south to southeast from the Capitol complex. Digital photograph. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 2006
Boiler Plant
Boiler Plant Boiler Plant. Rear view of the building, facing east to southeast from the Capitol complex with a view of the Legislative Restaurant/Capitol Annex to the south of the building (right in the photograph). Digital photograph. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 2006
Boiler Plant
Boiler Plant Boiler Plant. Front to side view of the building, facing north to northwest on North Roberts Street. Digital photograph. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 2006
Boiler Plant
Boiler Plant Boiler Plant. Side view of the building, facing north from the Capitol complex. Digital photograph. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 2006

Location

120 North Roberts Street, Helena, Montana | Public

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Boiler Plant,” Historic Montana, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2390.