State Historical Society outlines $78 million military gallery plan, seeks staff and NAGPRA funding

Bill Peterson, director of the North Dakota State Historical Society, told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division committee that the agency is requesting multiple budget increases for the next biennium, led by a $78 million military gallery project and staffing to comply with new federal repatriation rules.

Peterson said the 20,000-square-foot military gallery will “walk people through military history in North Dakota” and is under active design and fundraising. He told the committee the 68th Legislative Assembly extended a $20,000,000 line of credit from the Bank of North Dakota to the society for construction costs; the agency’s supplemental budget asks for $4,200,000 to repay that line of credit. Peterson described the military gallery as a $78,000,000 project and said private fundraising is ongoing.

The request packet that Peterson presented lists 11 decision packages covering cost-to-continue items, museum expansion projects, upgrades to archives and collections storage, and compliance work related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Peterson said the North Dakota Heritage Center State Museum attracts roughly 200,000 visitors a year and that the addition is expected to draw more guests.

Why it matters: the society’s capital and operating requests would affect museum visitors, school programming and…