Holloran joked that it feels like it’s been “about 24 years” since March 2016, when he unveiled his plans to build the hotel.

“A sincere thanks goes to everybody in this room,” he said. “I think everybody had a part in the Mercantile and we are so thankful to be at this point. It was a long road but we think it’s worth it. We’re super-excited to show it off.”

Holloran said the project is investing “five times the typical hotel amount” into the art program. Each of the 175 guest rooms will feature two large historic photographs of downtown Missoula or the old Mercantile building. The lobby and public indoor alleyway called The Mews will feature another roughly 60 pieces. No two rooms will have the same two photos.

“We’re telling the story of the history of the Mercantile and downtown Missoula,” Holloran said. “We were fortunate enough to salvage a tremendous amount of material that we’re using in the project, and kind of the icing on the cake is the art program. In a very unusual move, Marriott has continued to embrace our customization to make this really a special project.”

Jason Neal and Lisa Simon, the owners of the Radius Gallery in Missoula, are curating all those pieces.