Beth Jansen Bonanzaville Executive Director
WEST FARGO, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – On May 31st, 2023, the Cass County Historical Society -Bonanzaville USA was awarded a $100,000 capitol grant for the repair and remodel of the failing Arthur Town Hall building on its grounds from the Fargo -Moorhead Conventions and Visitors bureau. Since the 1970’s countless visitors to Bonanzaville have glimpsed the rural community of Arthur North Dakota’s past as they walk through Arthur Town Hall. The hall was constructed in the early 1890s and served as a combination hall and theater. In the spring of 2021, the hall was found to be racking and closed to the public while funds were raised to repair and update the building to continue its representation of Arthur ND in Bonanzaville’s Pioneer Village.
The Cass County North Dakota Historical Society (CCNDHS) is the cultural institution in charge of telling the county’s story, as well as preserving and collecting artifacts connected to the county’s history. CCNDHS owns and operates a museum, event center, and prairie village that sits on twelve acres of land in West Fargo, North Dakota called Bonanzaville. Bonanzaville includes a large main museum, thirty-six historic buildings, a carriage house, a car museum, an air museum, a tractor museum, an agricultural museum, and a law enforcement museum.
“Bonanzaville is a treasured attraction in FMWF. Visitors never fail to have a good time when they visit the vintage homes and businesses and many of them talk about it for days after, The FMCVB Board is proud to use its Destination Development Fund to help CCHS refurbish Arthur Town Hall, just as it has done previously for the Church and Lucian Barnes Pavilion projects.” Charley Johnson, President and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors manages a Capital Grant Program, which is funded by one-third (1 penny on the dollar) of the lodging tax levied in Fargo and West Fargo. The Board considers grant requests for projects involving costs related to capital construction that will have a demonstrable and positive effect on the community’s economy. Any such projects must be in an area directly related to tourism.