BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A nonprofit aiming to build a new ticket office, museum and cafe site for the Lewis and Clark Riverboat has nearly reached its $750,000 fundraising goal.
The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, inspired by a railway river warehouse, is hoping to start construction on the project in May and be open and operating by summer of 2018, The Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/2kqFXL6) reported.
Bismarck city commissioners approved a lease in December on a half-acre parcel below the Grant Marsh Bridge that’s owned by the city. The lease runs through 2042 and says construction must begin by Dec. 31 of this year.
Foundation Executive Director Aaron Barth said almost $658,000 has been raised or pledged toward the project, and will go toward a private-public partnership, local banks, power utilities, grants from the North Dakota Tourism Department and the foundation itself.
The structure would be 3,500 square feet and emulate the design of a 19th century river landing warehouse.
“We discussed how to keep a foot in the past and the 21st century,” Barth said. “It will have a cafe with a simple menu and beverage area. It will line up with the local trails.”
The project will replace the Meriwether’s restaurant site that once housed a ticket office for the riverboat. That building was condemned because of damage from the 2011 Missouri River flood.
“The structure will be elevated on concrete pillars so it will be on an elevation above flood levels,” Barth said.
He said the project will also serve as a museum to show how the Industrial Revolution came to the Plains because of the Missouri River.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com
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