North Dakota
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.
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 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.”
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
North Dakota
Today in History: July 12, 1932 – A rumor turned into not only one tornado but a flock of them
Today in History revisits the Tuesday, July 12, 1932, edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story of rumors growing in North Dakota about tornadoes obliterating cities, hail pounding crops into the ground, towns in ruins. Turns out the rumors were flying around faster than any wind in the forecast.
This Rumor Turned Into Not Only One Tornado, But Flock of Them
Townspeople at North Dakota Points Go About Affairs Undisturbed While Stories of Their Destruction Mount.
It started with a little rumor. It reached the proportions of a major tragedy, with three towns in North Dakota swept away, property and crops destroyed, persons killed and injured, (estimates to suit yourself), and ere it goes further the truth must out.
It’s a story about a person or several persons who started rumors that there were storms, yea verily, tornadoes, and cyclones of great proportions in the vicinities of Cando, Devils Lake, Towner and other points throughout the Northwest.
Early Monday came queries about the tornado that left Devils Lake’s business district a complete wreck. Through the afternoon, far into the night they continued, the questions varying in respect to the exact whereabouts of the storm.
There were those who heard that Towner had been razed; another who had talked with a traveling salesman, just in from Rugby by motor, who reported that Cando was in ruins; still someone else who was informed that crops throughout the entire district had been driven into the ground by hail.
By the hundreds these rumors came to the Herald for verification, more information. This is the dope:
The Devils Lake Journal reports only slight showers throughout the day, no wind, no hail, no damage.
The Towner railway agent says all is quiet along that front, no storms, not even any indications.
The Cando telephone operator gives the information that, contrary to rumors, all buildings are in their places, there are no dead or injured, the townspeople hadn’t heard about the storm.
Stories and rumors to the contrary, notwithstanding, the Northwest is not strewn over the countryside and blown to bits by wind. A few showers is the best it can do.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
North Dakota
The Crookston Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star present a donation check to Honor Flight of North Dakota and Minnesota
The Crookston Masonic Lodge #141 and the Order of the Eastern Star #137 presented a $57,938 donation check to Honor Flight of North Dakota and Minnesota during a ceremony at the Masonic Lodge on Thursday. The donation will help cover the costs for the next round of Honor Flights for 2026, with two flights scheduled […]
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The Bison are in the game. For real, this time.
When EA Sports brought back its College Football title in 2024 after a decade-plus hiatus, FCS teams were not included. That’s still the case as the game moves into the third year of its revival, but, of course, North Dakota State has moved up to the FBS level, as members of the Mountain West.
And one of the perks of that move is inclusion in the popular sports simulation. Participating players get $1,500 plus a free copy of this year’s game, College Football 27.
Not bad, huh?
I can only imagine how cool it is for a kid like Abraham Myers, a tight end from Sioux Falls Washington High School, to see himself as a playable character on a millions-selling PlayStation game, but it’s cool for fans, too.
If you’re a Bison fan, it’s all right there. The Fargodome (sorta, EA didn’t bother to include the name, calling it ‘North Dakota State Stadium’), Tim Polasek, the Bison mascot — OK, that’s really about all the detail they went into, and Polasek’s likeness leaves a bit to be desired. Then again, they still haven’t made much effort to make Kalen DeBeoer look like Kalen DeBoer, so whatever, I guess.
In the past you could still play as NDSU, or SDSU, or USD, or Augustana, or Roosevelt High School, or St. Mother Theresa’s Middle School for the Deaf, or any other team, real or imagined, because of the game’s “Create a team” engine, and that’s still there on this year’s game. There are already a few Jackrabbit teams up on the servers that you can download if you’re an SDSU fan and want to play as the Jacks.
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But Bison fans (and Sac State fans, and Missouri State fans, etc., etc.) don’t have to do that. Their team is in the game, with their actual stadium and their actual coach and their actual players, and when I fired up the game on Thursday just an hour after it officially launched, I’ll admit it, the first thing I did was start a game in Fargo, pitting New Mexico against the Bison in the Fargodome for a Mountain West clash that sent former SDSU assistant Jason Eck up against his old Dakota Marker nemesis.
The game started up and there they were: Nathan Hayes under center for the Bison, with DJ Scott carrying the ball, Jackson Williams running free over the middle and Myers teaming with Reis Kessel at tight end to create problems in the red zone.
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I went right down the field and scored on the opening drive, with Hayes finding Williams on a drag route for the touchdown.
Despite the best efforts of New Mexico’s star linebacker and former Brookings Bobcat Jaxton Eck (Jason’s son), I had no trouble dispatching the Lobos 31-10.
Later I played around with some other fun matchups.
I brought Nebraska into the Dome, and while we all know the Huskers stink now, for someone like me who’s old enough to remember their Glory Days, it was fun to see the iconic Nebraska uniforms on the Fargo turf, and wonder if someday that could actually happen now that NDSU is in the FBS.
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Later I played a game at the Big House in Ann Arbor, sending the Bison up against the Wolverines. Michigan got the ball first and after a holding penalty pinned them deep in their own territory, Keenan Wilson’s strip-sack of Bryce Underwood gave the Bison first and goal, and with the Miaze and Blue crowd of over 100,000 roaring, I quickly turned it into a short touchdown pass from Hayes to Myers.
Ultimately I couldn’t keep that up against the Wolverines, falling 31-21.
I played around with some other teams, mostly the ones with familiar faces. Jimmy Rogers and Iowa State, Matt Entz at Fresno State, Missouri State, Kennesaw State, Sac State, Delaware and other former FCS powers.
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I also played a few series of the Tennessee vs. Alabama rivalry game to get an early glimpse of what kind of teams South Dakota’s two favorite SEC sons (DeBoer and Josh Heupel) might have in store for 2026.
Much has been made of trying to predict how successful the Bison will be in year one at the FBS level. Some have already anointed them a favorite to grab a G6 playoff spot. Others think they’ll at least win the Mountain West, while few seem to think they’ll finish much lower than third or fourth.
What does EA think?
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The Bison are given an overall team rating of 75 (99 is the highest possible), which is higher than many if not most G6 teams. James Madison, for one, gets a 77.
The other Mountain West teams earned the following ratings:
Air Force – 74
Hawaii – 76
Nevada – 73
New Mexico – 76
Northern Illinois – 70
San Jose State – 72
UNLV – 78
UTEP – 72
Wyoming – 73
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As for the NDSU players, here are their top rated personnel:
Griffin Empey (LG): 87
DJ Scott (RB): 83
Keenan Wilson (DT): 80
Darius Glance (SS): 79
Myles Mitchell (RB): 78
Josh Magin (RT): 78
Donovan Woolen (LB): 78
Keith Williams (LB): 78
Logan Larson (DT): 77
Jackson Williams (WR): 76
Matthew Stenbroten (DE): 76
Zach Vanderpool (DT): 76
Alijah Wayne (DT): 76
Jaylin Crumby (FS): 75
Kelton McCaslin (DE): 75
Reis Kessel (TE): 75
Nathan Hayes (QB): 74
Nate Tastad (RG): 74
Taylen Eady (FS): 73
Ryan Babatz (LT): 73
Alex Jenkins (LT): 73
DJ Volts (CB): 72
Mekhi Collins (WR): 71
Jack Liwienski (OG): 71
EJ Davis (CB): 71
Will Steil (FS): 70
Drew Klein (K): 70
Makes you wonder how players like Chase Mason and Charles Pierre would measure up. Maybe someday the Jacks, Coyotes and Fighting Hawks will be in the game and we’ll find out.
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Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.
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