Heritage Renewal

The website for the survey of wrought iron cross cemeteries in North Dakota has been absent with leave for a few months while being moved from private to university serviers. It's back. Visit it here.

The Aberdeen News has given the Ellendale Opera House, object of one of those they-said-it-can't-be-done restoration efforts that are becoming more and more common across North Dakota, some great press. Reporter Gretchen Mayer writes,

There are visions in the three-story brick building - no question. But the visions are held by the eight members of OPERA Inc. (Organization of People in Ellendale for the Restoration of the Arts), who have their sights set on restoring the building to its former glory.

Ignoring the advice of a structural engineer who, in 1999, told Ellendale City Council members that the building would cost too much to repair and should be torn down, the members of OPERA Inc. decided to raise the nearly $3 million that it would take to save their beloved three-story Main Street centerpiece, which is listed on the Register of Historic Places.

There are, of course, great quotes from perennial activist Jeanette Robb-Ruenz. The whole piece is upbeat, and rightly so, as this restoration effort anchors a revival of the Ellendale business district and, indeed, the community.

Go to the Aberdeen News for the article, dated 27 January 2008.