Minot museum evicted from fairgrounds to move to Burlington

MINOT, N.D. – A museum that’s being evicted from the North Dakota State Fairgrounds in Minot will be relocated just outside the city.

The Ward County Historical Society announced on Tuesday that the Pioneer Village museum will be moved to Burlington, 8 miles west of Minot, the Minot Daily News reported. The museum must be removed from the fairgrounds after the historical society lost a long-running legal dispute with the State Fair Association in August.

The association has wanted the museum to leave the property since 2013 to make room for other plans, but the historical society has resisted because of a lack of funding. The case then moved to district court for several years, ending this August with a ruling asserting that the State Fair Association owns the land under the museum.

The historical society decided not to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, instead focusing on a new start in a different location.

Dave Leite, the society’s president, said the group hopes to relocate the 12 historically significant buildings off the grounds as soon as possible, but they haven’t raised enough money to make the move yet. The society had planned to fundraise $2 million to move the buildings and its contents.

“We can maybe move one building out there,” Leite said.

The historical society is still seeking donations for its relocation.

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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com