Connect with us

North Dakota

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library crosses construction milestone  • Idaho Capital Sun

Published

on

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library crosses construction milestone  • Idaho Capital Sun


MEDORA, North Dakota – The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will produce its own heat and energy using geothermal sources.

The facility will emit zero carbon emissions, produce zero waste and serve as a catalyst for continued development in North Dakota’s scenic western border region.

And, as of this week, it’s halfway to completion.

“The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will be one of the most sustainable museums in the world upon opening,” said Ed O’Keefe, the library’s CEO.

Advertisement

Donors, lawmakers and other dignitaries gathered Wednesday in Medora to celebrate the milestone of laying of the final steel beam into position, which marked the midpoint in the construction process.

“Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘Believe you can and you are halfway there.’ Folks, we are halfway there,” O’Keefe said during an on-site ceremony to more than 100 attendees.

The last steel beam is hoisted into place at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora on Aug. 14, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The next goal for construction teams will be to beat the snow and frozen temperatures and enclose the structure by November so interior work can begin.

The library is scheduled to open to the public on July 4, 2026, to commemorate the country’s semiquincentennial.

“It’s going to be one of the 1,000 architectural wonders you need to see before you die,” O’Keefe said. “It’s really going to have a lot of significance for many different audiences.”

Advertisement

North Dakota ‘on a journey to create the best presidential library in the nation’

During the event, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said the beam placement was only the beginning of milestones for the presidential library.

“We’re on a journey to create the best presidential library in the nation,” Burgum said. “There’s 14 others, but this will be the best. This will have the biggest impact on generations to come.”

Burgum, along with first lady Kathryn Burgum and other visiting officials, signed the last steel beam before it was raised into position in what will become The Arena at the Roosevelt library, commemorating one of the 26th president’s famous speeches.

Advertisement
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum draws a heart between his and his wife’s signatures on a steel beam during a ceremony commemorating the placement of the last steel beam at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora on Aug. 14, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The governor noted another famous quote from Roosevelt, who said he would not have been president if not for his time in North Dakota.

“All that will come here will draw inspiration from that life that Roosevelt lived, the courageous and bold life, and … they’ll learn about his time that he spent here,” Burgum said.

U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said one his favorite parts about the library and its design is how it incorporates itself into the landscape of the Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

“This is so Roosevelt, right?” Cramer said. “So much of construction and development replaces nature with a structure. In this case, they’ve built a structure into nature and that tells the story of Theodore Roosevelt so beautifully and with such integrity.”

Cramer, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., spearheaded an effort to acquire the land and federal funding for the project across three different bills in Congress. One of the bills, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Act, would allocate $50 million to the project through the U.S. Department of the Interior and grant access for the library to display some of Roosevelt’s personal items that are housed at various federal agencies. The legislation was introduced in April.

Cramer said he’s hopeful the bill will be added to a continuing resolution to fund the federal government and appropriated by the end of the year. If not, he joked with Hoeven during the event that they may not come home for Christmas. He also added that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is from New York, Roosevelt’s home state.

Advertisement

“As long as he’s not bitter about North Dakota getting the project, he should help us preserve Theodore Roosevelt’s heritage,” Cramer said.

The library’s foundation has raised $320 million of a revised $450 million fundraising goal, O’Keefe said. Fundraisers are hopeful to add the federal $50 million to that total before the end of the year.

Joe Wiegand, a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator who stars in a one-man show in Medora, said he thinks the library will appeal to multiple generations.

“That really is the cornerstone of the Roosevelt experience,” Wiegand said. “It’s a family experience … it’s not just for guys in suits, it’s not just for historians, it’s for the families of this country and the families of the world who will come out and be inspired.”

Theodore Roosevelt impersonator Joe Wiegand, right, talks to Craig Dykers, design architect for Snohetta, during a tour of the presidential library
Theodore Roosevelt impersonator Joe Wiegand, right, talks to Craig Dykers, design architect for Snohetta, during a tour of the presidential library Aug. 14, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The North Dakota Monitor, like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: [email protected]. Follow North Dakota Monitor on Facebook and X.

Advertisement



Source link

North Dakota

ND State Fair completes 2026 grandstand lineup with EDM artist Zedd, ‘Turn Up ND!’

Published

on

ND State Fair completes 2026 grandstand lineup with EDM artist Zedd, ‘Turn Up ND!’


MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – We now know the entertainers who will round out this year’s North Dakota State Fair grandstand lineup.

In what is a first for the state fair, Zedd will put on an EDM show at the grandstand on Friday, July 24. He’s an award-winning artist and DJ, known for hits like ‘Clarity’ and ‘The Middle.’

The show will feature immersive production, sound and visuals. Tickets will be just over $58, including fees.

The fair wraps up on Saturday, July 25, with this year’s ‘Turn Up ND’ show. It features TI, Da-Baby and Waka Flocka Flame.

Advertisement

All three have made a name for themselves in the trap and hip-hop music genres.

Tickets for this show are just over $78, including fees.

So here’s a look at the full lineup, which is packed with some major stars, featuring Alex Warren, Jon Pardi, Jessie Murph, Niko Moon and Zach Top.

The fair will hold two days of the popular MHA Indian Horse Relays on July 20 and 21.

For information on tickets, dates and more, go to ndstatefair.com.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

North Dakota

Darlene Struble

Published

on

Darlene Struble


Darlene Kay Struble was born April 11, 1946 in Valley City, ND to Frank and Ruby (Satreaas) Klima. She grew up in LaMoure, ND and graduated from LaMoure High School 1964. After graduation, Darlene continued her education at North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton before completing her LPN training in Grand Forks. 

Darlene married the love of her life, Charles Struble, on October 25, 1969 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Together, they made their home in Jamestown where she began her career in the OB department at Jamestown Hospital. Her dedication to caring for others continued throughout her professional life, later leading her to Dakota Clinic in Jamestown. Her work was an extension of her compassionate spirit, and she touched many lives until her retirement in 2009. 

She filled her days with many loves; her family above all, but also the quiet joys of gardening, flowers, sewing, crafts, and scrap booking. She had a special gift of preserving memories, and spent countless hours gathering family history. Darlene started her day at the Depot Cafe nearly every morning. It was a simple tradition, but one she shared with her children, friends, and eventually grandchildren. Not only were Depot mornings filled with love and laughter, but an abundance of Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes. 

Darlene passed away peacefully on March 23rd 2026 at Eventide in Jamestown, surrounded by the love of her family. She leaves behind her husband Chuck, her sons; Cory (Deb) Struble and Dave (Leslie) Struble, two sisters; Linda (Gary) Kraft and Roberta (Karl) Wilhelm, six grandchildren; Jayden (Darsh), Allie, Jonah, Grace, Evyn, and Owen, and seven nieces and nephews. She has been reunited with her parents, her daughter, Tiffiney Dick, and her sister, Mary Lee Guffy.

Advertisement

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Jamestown Regional Medical Center Foundations, specifically to the OB ward.

Memorial Service- 3:30 PM Saturday, March 28, 2026 at Haut Funeral Home in Jamestown, ND, with Pastor Kristi Weber, officiating.

Interment- Highland Home Cemetery, Jamestown, ND (at a later date).





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

North Dakota

Hope’s Corner: Hope Springs Eternal

Published

on

Hope’s Corner: Hope Springs Eternal


I spent the first day of spring, last Friday, weeding my back yard flower beds. Let that sink in, because this is North Dakota. We have April showers in May, and May flowers in June. We sometimes have snow in June, too. Weeding my tulips in March is a first.

The tulips have been up for a couple of weeks in my south-facing gardens. The six inches of snow last weekend did not deter their enthusiasm. According to the South Dakota State University Extension Service, tulips close to our shared border usually begin to appear in late March and early April. Mine are early risers this year. I blame the switch to Daylight Saving Time.

My yarrow and hollyhocks have been green and growing for four weeks. The yarrow was a little miffed at the one subzero night a week or so ago, but the hollyhocks merely flattened out and took it in stride. Our friends at the South Dakota Extension Service assure me both of those plant varieties normally sprout in mid-May. Maybe the frequent solar storms and northern lights displays have affected them.

Shortly after that subzero stretch in February, which Katie the Wonder Puppy and I called The Degrees of Despair, the pussywillow began to bud. I cut my first bouquet this past Friday the 13th. And did you know the blossoms are called catkins?

Advertisement

That shrub is only a couple weeks early in blooming. Obviously, like all cats, my pussywillow is indifferent to solar storms, the northern lights, and Daylight Saving Time. When its feet get warm enough, it stretches out and basks in the sun. Wild catnip has, however, sprouted near the pussywillow’s trunk. I suspect some deep-rooted drug dependency at work there.

But, weeds? There is wild horseradish marching across my tastefully scattered scoria chips. There is quackgrass strangling daylilies and yarrow. There are weeds of unknown name towering over my tulips. Actually, I have a name for those weeds, but that name is best kept to myself.

I pulled out one quackgrass clump, and I am pretty sure its far end stretched all the way to Gladstone. It was like pulling one of those string strips from the top of a fifty-pound sack of sunflower seeds. Not that I regularly buy fifty-pound bags of sunflower seeds for the neighborhood birds, or anything.

I was feeling pretty smug last Saturday after I finished all my weeding. I figured I would need to start mowing in a few more days. I began looking at seed catalogs and dreaming of Big Boy tomato plants.

Late Saturday evening Katie and I went outside to take in the fresh air. It was snowing. Gotta love North Dakota.

Advertisement

Jackie Hope is the longest running Dickinson Press contributor and columnist. Hope’s Corner is a weekly humorous column with a message of hope.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending