Watford City stakes claim to new city plaza
Steve Hallstrom
Special to The Farmer
A long-vacant downtown Watford City piece of real estate is getting a full blown transformation into a year-round civic plaza.
The North Dakota Department of Commerce and the region’s Rough Rider Fund have awarded grants totaling nearly $2 million to a development being called the “Main Street Square.”
The funding marks a pivotal step toward the site -- a public gathering space designed to host vendor markets, live music, food-truck rallies, and seasonal festivals while honoring the region’s ranching legacy.
“In communities with high levels of visibility,” said Vawnita Best, Watford City’s community development director, “and places where people want to live, it’s very common to have an urban square which is sort of the family room to your community where people gather, and do the things that families like to do together and where families and communities can play together. So we see the need for it, and the other thing that we’re excited about is that all the organizations in our community that host events that people love to attend - it’s a lot of work to host them, so we’re dedicated to making it user-friendly for them.”
The state commerce department awarded the city $400,000 through its Destination Development Grants program. The grant is one of 23 awards totaling $15 million distributed this year from 106 applications across 50 communities. Administered by the Commerce Department, the program targets tourism infrastructure that can extend visitor stays and diversify local economies.
“These projects turn brief stopovers into extended experiences that support jobs and showcase our state’s character,” Sara Otte Coleman, tourism and marketing director, said in a release.
Total project costs are estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
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