The historical society held its monthly meeting on Thursday evening at the Burlington City Hall, where they celebrated the official transfer of land from the DeSour Valley Economic Development Corporation.

“(Owning the land) was important to us,” said president Dave Leite, since it means that the historical society will not have to relocate its Pioneer Village Museum again once the 12 buildings have been moved out to Burlington.

The historical society lost a long running legal battle against the State Fair to keep the museum on the fairgrounds and decided against an appeal.

Instead, they want to focus on the future, which includes plans for expansion in the new location next to the Dollar General Store along U.S. Highways 2 and 52.

Andrea Johnson/MDN Alan Dostert of EAPC Architects shows off a site plan he designed for the Ward County Historical Society showing where museum buildings might be situated at its new site in Burlington.

Leite said donations are still needed, both to pay for the move and for infrastructure and operational costs when the buildings are in place.

“This is a beautiful spot because of the history of the area,” said Leite. “It’s a prime spot, right off the highway.”

Burlington was the original county seat and the museum buildings include the original Ward County Courthouse and the original post office box. The future site of the museum was also once the site of a brick plant.

Leite said the timeline for relocation depends somewhat on weather conditions. There is a June 15 deadline for the buildings to be moved off the fairgrounds. The State Fair Association will give $50,000 toward the relocation if the buildings are gone by that date.

The historical society is also closely watching Senate Bill 2146, currently under consideration in the State House, which would provide up to $450,000 to relocate the Pioneer Village to Burlington. The bill would call for the funds to be awarded as a grant to the state historical society, which would then provide a grant to the Ward County Historical Society. Leite said a group of historical society members testified at a hearing on the bill on Tuesday and fielded lots of questions. While they are hopeful the bill will pass, the historical society members are also aware of how many funding requests have been made during this legislative session.

Andrea Johnson/MDN Historical society member James Falcon gestures to a map showing the new location of the Ward County Historical Society’s Pioneer Village.

The historical society has also received other donations of land and money and services, but more is needed.

A fundraising gala called The Great Gatsby Gala is planned for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. April 12 at the Sleep Inn in Minot. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. More information on tickets can be found at wardcountyhistoricalsociety.brownpapertickets.com. There will be a silent auction and musical entertainment. Guests can dress up in suitable 1920s costumes.

Other groups have also given of their time and talents to the historical society.

Alan Dostert of EAPC Architects Engineers drew up a site plan for the historical society showing how the buildings might be situated once they are moved to Burlington. Dostert showed off the plan at Thursday’s meeting and described how it might look, with the church at the end of a street and the big white house called the Samuelson House situated so it is visible from the highway. When he was “imagineering” the design, he was thinking of “the post card photo.” Dostert’s site plan will help the museum just where things should go.

Students in a leadership group at Minot State University are also working on a business and marketing plan for the historical society, said student Maria Leidholt. They will conduct a survey of students and young families to see what they would like to see at the museum. The MSU students will also help increase the historical society’s presence on Instagram and Snapchat, both social media sites that are popular with younger people, as well as on Facebook. The MSU students are so enthusiastic about the project that they have even decided to meet over spring break.

Andrea Johnson/MDN A fundraiser is planned April 12 at the Sleep Inn in Minot. Ward County Historical Society member James Falcon shows off a ticket for the upcoming Gatsby Gala.

Leite said the historical society is glad that people are beginning to come forward with donations of family memorabilia again.

Ideally, Leite said, the historical society would like to have some sort of event on the new site in Burlington by the end of the summer, though everything might not be ready by that time.