After months of what appeared to be inactivity regarding the demolition and eventual renovation of the Butte Plaza Mall, bulldozers and heavy equipment have made rubble of the interior and parts of the exterior walls at the old Herberger's location.

Rear wall of the former Herberger's Department Store. Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
Rear wall of the former Herberger's Department Store. Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
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A look at demolition through the north side door. Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
A look at demolition through the north side door. Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
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As many of you may remember, Herberger's was not the first big department store in that particular location of the mall.  Not even close.  If you grew up in Butte in the 70s or 80s, that location firmly belonged to the Woolworth department store chain and for many of us it was the center of our shopping universe.  There was the record and electronics section in the middle.  I remember buying Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on cassette there in 1982.  There was the cafe by the south entrance.  There was everything.

Speaking of the south door, remember what you'd find when you went that way?  I remember the hardware store that later became On Cue after the first big renovation in the mid 1990s.  There was a sports card store you'd walk by.  Across the way from that, at one point, was Jeans, Etc. if I am not mistaken.  And way down on the south end, you'd find the Buttrey's Food Store and just to the east, the old Skaggs Drugstore.

What are your favorite memories of the old mall?  Or of the once renovated mall?  What stores do you want to see coming in?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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