You asked: Large structure under construction near the airport in Helena?

A new building is going up off Airport Rd. in Helena, and viewer John asked what it is. MTN found out it’s an addition to the Montana Department of Revenue liquor warehouse.

The current warehouse is 96,000 square feet, and located at 2517 Airport Rd., adjacent to the under-construction addition.

“All your distilled spirits—your gins, your tequilas, your vodkas—come through this facility before being sold throughout the state of Montana,” Montana Department of Revenue Alcoholic Beverage Control Division operating officer Steve Swanson said.

Montana is a control state, meaning the sale of distilled spirits is controlled by the state. Liquor goes from the state warehouse to 95 privately owned agency liquor stores across Montana, and in turn, those agency liquor stores sell to the about 1,600 all beverage licensees in the state and the general public.

The state liquor warehouse ships out more than 1-million cases of liquor each fiscal year.

“New product are entering the market constantly, the demand for existing products is constantly growing, so there’s just that time that we need more space to be able to sustain the growth,” Swanson said.

The addition to the liquor warehouse meets the need for more space. It will add another 31,000 square-feet of storage space. The new addition is also tall—70 feet compared to the current warehouse’s height of 30 feet—and will feature an automated storage and retrieval system.

“Think of a large building, a lot of racking in it, and two cranes that go up and down the center of the building putting away product and retrieving it as its needed,” Swanson said.

The Montana Legislature approved $22 million for the project, and it’s expected to be done next spring.