GREAT FALLS — The Times Square building in downtown Great Falls is preparing for a new year, and they’re bringing something new to the Electric City - its very own New Year’s Eve ball drop.
The festivities begin at 4 p.m. and will culminate with a ball drop at midnight.
Theevent page on Facebook says:
Join us at the heart of Downtown Great Falls for the first-ever New Years Eve Ball Drop at your Times Square of Great Falls for FREE on December 31st! Starting at 4:00 PM Inside Times Square you'll find hot drinks, food, music, and a vendor market so bring cash! While we wait for midnight to strike Team WolfPack will be putting on kickboxing bouts in the Times Square Atrium starting at 8:00 PM! We encourage you all to visit and warm up inside other local businesses as well leading up to the ball drop at midnight!
Times Square owner Tim Bass is thrilled to be able to organize an event like this and bring something different to downtown: “I was sitting there thinking you know, what can I do to get people to come downtown and come into our building? And so with that in mind, I started thinking outside the box and started thinking about the Times Square in New York. What would it take to create that same vibe, that same atmosphere, on our street? We’re really excited to be able to do that this year and bring more people downtown.”
Marcy Kilpatrick of Bass Clef School of Music & Fine Arts explained, “Anybody and everybody is welcome, whoever would like to attend. It’s just going to be a chance for everybody to get out, have a good time, get to see this grand event that’s making its debut here in Great Falls, Montana, and also a chance for people to come together and commune with each other again."
The ball drop is expected to bring more people to downtown and that’s exactly what Times Square tenants have already been seeing is more people supporting local stores.
Carolyn Brown owns the Montana Mosaic store in Times Square and says she has seen increased business during the holidays and expects that trend to continue, especially with a ball drop taking place.
“What I’m hearing is we’re excited. We’re excited to see one, new people coming into the building and two, let’s see what it brings in for cliental and customers and something new and something different and I thought it was a really good idea,” Brown said. “Especially if it helps bring people into the people and let alone downtown, people are going to enjoy it.”
Along with the ball drop, Times Square will also be hosting a kickboxing event that will take place during the evening before the ball drops and the clock strikes midnight.
The Times Square building is on the northwest corner of the intersection of Central Avenue and 5th Street.
