Supporters of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota are planning a new federal effort to help build the library and display artifacts from the 26th president, who hunted and ranched in the state in his youth. We support the enactment of the law.
Last week, North Dakota’s three-all Republican Congressional delegation announced legislation that would “authorize funding for continued library construction and work toward ensuring the preservation of President Roosevelt’s history and legacy.” . The bill’s Department of the Interior grant is a one-time $50 million grant, most of which “will go toward building museum space within the facility,” said Matt Blaney, the library’s chief communications officer.
Workers move forward at Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in the North Dakota wilderness
The bill also enables and directs federal agencies to work with library organizers to display Roosevelt materials in library museums, he said.
Ed O’Keefe of Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library stands near the statue of the 26th president, Mandan, North Dakota, Aug. 23, 2023. Supporters of Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library stand behind the library’s construction and artifacts. The 26th president of the United States is sponsoring a new federal law to support exhibits in the state.In his youth, he hunted and ranched in the state during the state’s territorial days. (AP Photo/Jacques Duras)
In 2019, the Republican-controlled North Dakota Legislature approved $50 million in operating funds for the library. The donation was made available after library organizers raised $100 million in private donations for construction. This goal was achieved at the end of his 2020.
The project has raised $240 million in private donations and will cost $333 million to complete, Blaney said. Financing the library’s construction has not been an issue, he said.
Near Medora, construction is underway in the rugged and colorful Badlands region where the future young president briefly roamed in the 1880s. Organizers plan to hold the library’s grand opening on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of American independence.
In a statement, the Congressional delegation praised the bill as a “smart investment in our nation’s historic preservation.” In the same press release, the bill drew praise from his descendant, Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt V, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who advocated for libraries in the 2019 legislative session.
The bill would require two-thirds of the funding to come from state or non-federal sources and would prohibit federal funds from being used for library maintenance or operations.
Blaney said the exhibit schedule includes a chronological look back at Roosevelt’s life, including his early life, his time in the Badlands, his trips to the Amazon, and galleries from his presidential years.
The 2023 Legislature approved a $70 million loan facility for libraries through the state-run North Dakota Bank, but Blaney said library planners have not taken advantage of the facility.
The loan facility drew intense scrutiny last year from Republican state Rep. Jim Kasper, who called it a “$70 million slush fund” that could leave taxpayers in hot water. Library CEO Ed O’Keefe said the loan facility was intended as a backstop to ensure construction could begin.
In an interview, Kasper said of the library he supports, “It’s a great thing for North Dakota…but I would like to see private funding raised to pay for it.”
“If taxpayer dollars are going to be spent, I’d rather see them spend federal dollars than North Dakota taxpayer dollars,” Kasper said. “Obviously, taxpayer dollars are still being spent. But I absolutely do not support taxpayer dollars being spent on this project, whether state or federal.”
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Other presidential libraries were built with private donations and non-federal funds. According to the National Archives website, some facilities receive funding for construction or development from state and local governments and universities, then are transferred to the federal government and funded by the National Archives and Records Administration through the agency’s budget. It is operated.
Blaney said the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will always remain private and said the bill’s funding is “not necessarily unusual.”
