New $20M loan recommended for Military Gallery to restart construction

North Dakota Monitor · Jacob Orledge · September 3, 2026

Dale Lennon, executive director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, gives a tour of the unfinished Military Gallery to state lawmakers on Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota lawmakers on Wednesday advanced a funding compromise to restart construction on a stalled Military Gallery construction project, though several voiced concerns about increasing the state’s share of the cost.

A joint House-Senate budget committee recommends a $20 million line of credit from the Bank of North Dakota and removing conditions attached to $15 million in state funding already approved for the project on the Capitol grounds. The recommendation, approved in a 34-4 vote, will advance to the Senate for a vote on Thursday.

Rep. Glenn Bosch, R-Bismarck, said the line of credit included in Senate Bill 2407 is intended to serve as a construction loan to give fundraisers time to raise private donations. The goal is for the $20 million to be repaid with donations, keeping the cost of the $78 million project split evenly between state and private funding. If the loan is not repaid by March 2029, the bill directs the Legislature to evaluate whether to extend the repayment timeline or look for alternative funding sources.

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The solution followed several hours of testimony about the project’s development, the state of fundraising efforts and the impact of abruptly stopping construction.

“We’re at the point where we decide whether we have a museum or we don’t have a museum,” said Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby. “If we start construction again, I don’t want to see it stop at any point.”

Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, one of the lawmakers who opposed the plan, said after the vote he is concerned taxpayers will end up being responsible for the new $20 million loan.

“Frankly, the fundraising momentum hasn’t been good, so that was my main concern with that additional $20 million in the line of credit,” Cleary said.

Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, speaks during a legislative committee meeting on Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The bill would transfer oversight of the project to the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission, which includes four legislators in addition to other state officials.

Sen. Jonathan Sickler, R-Grand Forks, who also opposed the bill, said he did not hear enough evidence there would be sufficient new oversight.

“I think something that seems to have been a theme of this project is some rushed decision-making, and I think we’re being put in a position here where there is some potential rushed decision-making,” Sickler said.

Sickler preferred an earlier version of the bill that did not include the $20 million line of credit and would have allowed the Legislature time to consider the problem in the 2027 legislative session.

That version was abandoned after a short recess during the committee’s debate, in part because lawmakers want to ensure contractors and workers on the project have certainty moving forward.

“I think we do need to take into account how we keep the project going without potentially having multiple starts and stops,” Bosch said.

Military Gallery construction project stalls with fundraising lagging in North Dakota

The project has $5.3 million in unpaid bills through Sept 15, including $4.7 million to contractors, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

The owner of a local contractor on the project, H.A. Thompson & Sons, said his company is owed nearly $1.9 million for unpaid work completed since April. He said he is worried about the impact a continued delay will have on his business.

“It will probably be very difficult to man the job. Every one of my employees has payments to make, and if they’re not getting 40 or not getting full time, they’re going to find another employer that isn’t on hold,” testified Mark Thompson, owner of H.A. Thompson & Sons.

Patrick Pins of Mandan testified in support of action to resume construction on the project.

“We have faith in you that you’ll make the right decision,” Pins said.

Lucinda Johnson of Beulah said lawmakers’ spending of taxpayer money has gotten out of control and questioned why the gallery needs to be grandiose.

“I am very appalled at the amount of money that is being put into a museum,” Johnson said. “It’s like you don’t care how much you spend on things.”

The military gallery project has been in development since 2022.

The Legislature allocated $39 million of taxpayer money to the project during the 2025 legislative session. The state funding includes $15 million from an infrastructure fund that can be unlocked if the project receives nearly $12.8 in pledged private donations.

That funding also included a $20 million Bank of North Dakota line of credit, with the intention that lawmakers would budget in 2027 to pay it back.

Lawmakers were careful to stress that the new $20 million line of credit proposed during the special session should be viewed as a construction loan and the State Historical Society is expected to repay it with private donations.

Construction began in August 2025. It was paused on July 3 when the project ran out of funds and the State Historical Society learned it could not legally obtain a construction loan to bridge the gap until additional donations were received.

Mark Thompson, owner of H.A. Thompson & Sons, speaks during a legislative committee meeting on Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The project has $4.162 million in pledges and has collected about $800,000, Shannon Schweigert, managing partner of PACE Fundraising, said Wednesday. He has previously said most pledges are to be paid over five years. The project is a joint effort involving the State Historical Society, the North Dakota National Guard and their foundations.

Hogue pointed out that fundraisers have raised 11% of the goal in pledges and 2% of the goal in cash donations.

“That’s not a strong record,” Hogue said. “That does not inspire confidence in me.”

Schweigert has said one challenge for the fundraising campaign is that it overlapped with efforts to raise money for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

He told lawmakers he remains confident the fundraising goal can be met, and the only way they can fail is if they quit.

“I am asking for the opportunity to finish. We are fighters. We are problem-solvers,” Schweigert said.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge can be reached at jorledge@northdakotamonitor.com.

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