The concept, however, has proven to be an expensive and almost universal failure. Today, all but about 30 of those 200 malls have been ripped up, and traffic - in varying degrees - has been allowed back into the older commercial areas. As this article in the New York Times points out, the results have been very positive.

Helenans have argued for years about modifying the Main Street mall to accomodate traffic, but as of this writing, Helena is one of a dwindling handful of communities in the U.S. still clinging to this outmoded idea.

Building Helena's mall required the closing of Main Street to motor vehicle traffic from about State St. north to Sixth Ave. The street was re-paved for pedestrian use, a fake stream was plumbed-in on a portion of the mall, carved stone architectural elements from demolished Victorian buildings were laid about, several new sculptures were placed, and landscaping was done.

The mall was developed in two phases from 1973 to 1977. Phase I was from the south end of Main to Broadway, Phase II from Broadway north to Sixth Ave. The total cost was $54 million in public and private funds, which translates to about $200 million in today's dollars -- and you can't even drive on it.

Most of these early photos of the Urban Renewal Program's pedestrian mall and adjacent areas were taken in the 1970s by Virgie Millegan Baird (1921-1999); photos by other contributors are so noted.

Vacant storefront in the Atlas Block. This space was once the studios of KCAP radio. Above the door can be seen the ghost of the KCAP sign. For more about KCAP, click here.

The hideous "Prospector Fountain" by Lyndon Fayne Pomeroy, Last Chance Gulch at Broadway. It was created and installed in 1974, during Urban Renewal, at a cost of $10,000 -- about $45,000 in today's money. The steel assemblage was originally kinetic; the sluice box would fill with water and empty via gravity about four times per minute. The box was eventually welded in place following complaints about the incessant clanging.

In 1976, city commissioners turned down an Urban Renewal proposal for an additional sculpture by Pomeroy, this time of the Four Georgians on horseback...

In some ways, the most positive legacy of Urban Renewal is what it didn't do. This grotesquery would have cost $40,000 -- about $220,000 in 2019 dollars.

"The Mountain Fountain", also referred to in print as "The Mount Helena Fountain" and "The Mountain Park Fountain", was installed on the Walking Mall in 1977 at a cost of about $34,000 in today's money. It is the work of sculptor and painter Theodore J. Waddell.

The fountain proved to be unpopular, and was removed from the mall sometime after 1983. It is now on the north side of the Helena Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, just west of Front Street (thanks to Annah Smith and "Donna" for the heads-up on the fountain's current location).