Theodore Roosevelt presidential library taking shape in North Dakota Badlands

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Construction began in June on the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library planned for the Badlands of western North Dakota. The library honors the 26th president, who hunted and ranched in the area as a young man in the 1880s. Total construction will cost about $180 million. Library organizers are planning a grand opening of the library for July 4, 2026. Fundraising has surpassed $200 million, including commitments. Oil magnate Harold Hamm donated $50 million to the project. North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature in 2019 approved a $50 million operations endowment for the library, contingent upon organizers raising $100 million in private donations, a goal they say they reached in fall 2020.