Retrofitted space aims to enable creative manufacturing

A 5,000 square foot warehouse on the state nursery on Highway 12 is undergoing transformation.

Still mostly empty, the warehouse has a few work spaces partitioned by recycled lumber and some power tools resting in the open. But given a few more weeks, Matt Forbes envisions the space becoming Helenas next epicenter for creative manufacturing.

The idea is anything you can dream of fabricating from metal or wood we can potentially make happen here, Forbes said.

The Means of Production or M.O.P. Shop is something Forbes has been mulling over for a few years.

It can be hard for an artist just starting out to accumulate the necessary tools or find a space to work. The idea behind the M.O.P. Shop is for everyone to split the cost of space and have access to a spread of community tools, Forbes said.

Eventually, hes imagining 10 to 12 individual work spaces, each eight feet by 12 feet. Renters in those spaces would have 24 hour access and dedicated storage.

People who dont need their own space can rent one of multiple oversized lockers. Theyll have a large table to share and use of community tools, but limited access.

Forbes vision also includes some sort of dedicated retail space at the front of the shop, in which full-fledged members would each be allocated space to sell their goods.

A construction worker by trade, Forbes tinkers and refurbishes old furniture as a hobby. He even made his own tiny house, a meticulously built abode no larger than 200 square feet.

When he found the warehouse in Helena and decided to try and make it into the M.O.P. Shop, he parked his home out back and spent lots of time tooling around the space envisioning the end result.

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Retrofitted space aims to enable creative manufacturing