News

Memorial Hall makes its move

By Scott Wagar

04/15/2014

It is not a sight one sees often in Bottineau, but on Tuesday morning a building that was located on the south end of town was placed on wheels and transported two miles around Bottineau to its new location on the north end of town.

The building, the former State Bank of Bottineau building on Highway 5, was taken off its foundation and placed on a semi-trailer with steel beams, and moved west down the highway around the city’s west bypass to the north end of town, and to the new location of the veteran’s Memorial Park which is located directly across from the Bottineau County Fairground.

Huwe Movers out of Minot moved the building that at one time weighed 35 tons with the brick on the building which didn’t meet load restrictions.

With the brick removed,  Huwe moved the building two miles from the intersection of Main Street and Highway 5 west to the Gardena Road, proceeded one mile north and another mile east past St. Marks Cemetery and a few thousand feet south to the veterans’ property.

The building was placed on the west end of their property where it will stay until the county veterans can get the building’s foundation poured and prepared for the building to be moved on the foundation.

The Memorial Hall project has been in the making for three and half years with the county vets facing many difficulties due to the cost of either constructing a new hall or purchasing a building for their needs.

This past year, the State Bank of Bottineau made the decision to close its location on Thompson Street and construct a new building where its sister bank was located on Highway 5. With the decision to re-locate to the highway, the State Bank of Bottineau’s board made the pronouncement to donate the former bank building on the highway to the veterans for its new Memorial Hall.

Al Wondrasek, Bottineau veteran and director of the county veterans’ new Memorial Hall building, is pleased with the progression of the new memorial hall.

“This is a dream coming true for the Bottineau County Veterans.  The donation of a building to the Bottineau County Veterans, Inc., now establishes the future of the Veterans Memorial Park to honor all our past veterans, present veterans and future veterans,” Wondrasek said.

“It is coming together because of the team work between all the veterans organizations in Bottineau. Without the veterans’ team work and the team work of the Bottineau County Commissioners along with the Bottineau City Council, and untold number of county supporters, none of this would be happening. We, the veterans thank everyone.”

The Bottineau County Veterans’ Memorial Hall is planned to open in December 2014.