Ewing Street closure begins July 6 near Helena courthouse
Ewing Street will close between Broadway and Fifth on July 6, cutting off courthouse and Myrna Loy access while downtown visitors are rerouted to nearby parking lots.
The busiest block beside the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse is about to turn into a detour zone. Starting July 6, Ewing Street will close to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic between Broadway Street and Fifth Avenue, forcing courthouse visitors, jurors and Myrna Loy Center patrons to change how they get into the heart of downtown Helena.
Lewis and Clark County says courthouse business will continue during the work, but the building’s east entrance will be the primary public entrance throughout the project. A temporary pedestrian pathway will connect the north sidewalk to that entrance, and people heading to court or county offices will be routed to the north courthouse parking lot off Fifth Avenue. Myrna Loy Center patrons are being directed to the northeast lot at Breckenridge Street and Ewing Street.
The shutdown is tied to a courthouse sidewalk and street replacement project that is scheduled to run through Aug. 14. The county says the work includes replacement of concrete sidewalk, curb and gutter, roadway grading, asphalt pavement and ADA improvements, all of which explain why the block will be dug up and access narrowed for more than five weeks. The contract for the project was awarded at $197,069.
For the people who use this corridor every day, the disruption goes beyond a closed street. Attorneys, jurors, witnesses and residents coming downtown for records or hearings will need extra time and a clearer plan for where to park and where to walk. County jury information already directs jurors to park north of the courthouse, between the building and Fifth Avenue, and warns that the 1-hour parking between the courthouse and the Myrna Loy Center may be ticketed by the Helena Parking Commission.
The project also fits a longer pattern of access work around the Myrna Loy and courthouse block. County records show Lewis and Clark County sought a 2023 tax increment financing grant for sidewalk, curb and gutter work next to the Myrna Loy Center, with $9,000 requested and a $53,000 match. That package included $4,000 from the Myrna Loy Center and $49,000 from county ADA funds.
For downtown Helena, the immediate winners are the long-term planners who get safer sidewalks and ADA upgrades. The losers, for now, are the drivers, pedestrians and small businesses that depend on smooth foot traffic through one of the city’s most sensitive civic corridors.
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