BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A foundation that supported the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center for nearly two decades transferred a nearly $700,000 endowment trust on Wednesday to the state for ongoing maintenance at the facility.
Gov. Doug Burgum hailed what he called a generous transfer, holding an oversized cardboard check of it at a news conference, and touted the center about 30 miles north of Bismarck as a “can’t-miss destination.”
North Dakota took over the center in Washburn from the financially troubled foundation two years ago, along with the nearby replica of Fort Mandan, which was the winter home built by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition during its 1804 journey west. The state, which already owned the land and the interpretive center building, bought the center’s art, artifacts and other assets for $2.1 million.
The center’s two-year state budget beginning in 2015 was $1.9 million, which includes funds for building repairs and other work. The 2017-19 budget is $1.2 million.
A former foundation board member and state parks director, Mark Zimmerman, said the state was glossing over some difficulties with the trust that preceded the transfer. Zimmerman told The Associated Press that much of the trust transferred to the state had borrowed from the foundation’s own endowment fund because of financial problems, and had to be repaid.
Zimmerman said the foundation only was able to repay the money because of a recent financial gift from a benefactor’s estate.
“The foundation was taking money anywhere it could to keep the doors open,” said Zimmerman, who lost his position on the foundation board after Burgum replaced him shortly after taking office in December.
Foundation president David Borlaug said $300,000 of the trust was borrowed from the endowment fund and it was repaid from the benefactor’s gift. He said nothing was done inappropriately.
“We had agreement that we would restore (the endowment) and we fully restored it with money from the benefactor,” Borlaug said. “That’s called fundraising.”
Burgum also has contributed more than $100,000 to the foundation in the past, Borlaug said.
The center was built in 1997 with $1.5 million in state and federal money. It has been expanded twice, including a $5 million project in 2012 that added 9,000 square feet to the existing 11,000-square-foot facility. The state contributed about $1.5 million, and the balance was raised through donations, Borlaug said.
In its first year, 1997, the center drew almost 22,000 visitors. At its peak during the Lewis and Clark bicentennial a decade ago, it drew about 30,000 visitors.
Only about half that number visited the site last year.
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