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The Children's Museum of Montana is currently undergoing $75,000 worth of renovations but the upgrades would have cost a lot more without an outpouring of support from the community.

Volunteers spent the day Monday ripping out old carpet in the museum's main exhibit room.

New floors are just one of the many upgrades the Children's Museum will see in its major renovation.

The 30,000 people that enjoy the facility each year will also enjoy a new bathroom, new kitchen, new classroom, seven new or revamped exhibits and a fresh coat of paint.

Thanks to a $40,000 community block grant, the total cost to the museum is just over $35,000 but it would've cost even more without help from volunteers as well as donated funds, supplies and materials.

Museum Executive Director Sandie Wright said, "If we were to just sit back and hire out all of the labor it would be well over 100,000."

Joanie Agamenoni helped gut out the basement this summer in preparation for the major overhaul.

She says that project removed three large dumpsters full of unnecessary clutter.

Agamenoni said, "Sometimes you just volunteer and do something good and you get nothing in return, you know, monetarily. You just do it because you support your community."

Joanie is just one of 22 volunteers helping out.

Wright says she was expecting half that number to show up and she's trilled to see the community support.

Wright said, "The community loves the museum and they're so good to us. We're basically paying for the bare minimum and then everybody else is picking up the slack."

And she says that support will help the museum fulfill it's mission of providing a safe, hands-on learning environment for all area kids.

The museum will be closed the remainder of the week for the repairs.

It will open back up with normal business hours on Saturday.