We’ll do it Ourselves Town

I wish that there were more towns with a “Get out of the way, cause we are going to do this ourselves,” when they face obstacles in their way. One such town is Watford City, ND (population 1,435). A small town like this has to utilize ALL of their resources, including state and federal funding, to be able to accomplish projects that are important for the community. But too often when those funding sources fail to produce, many towns give up. Not Watford City!

I was amazed at what can be accomplished with this type of approach. Watford City has built a new aquatic park for $1.5 million; a 30,000 sf multi-purpose building for ice skating, soccer and other indoor events (cost $1.0 million); a tourist visitors center ($1.0 million); and new country club house. And all in the past five years! They also have a wonderful library, wellness center and 22,500 sf meeting area that includes a 10,000 sf auditorium and racquetball courts.

The story of how they did the tourism welcome center was particularly interesting. The town wanted to tap into the tourists that were headed to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Lake Sakakawea. They wanted to build a nice welcome center but didn’t have the funds to do so. They finally put together a deal with the municipally owned liquor store and local museum to build it. It is the only combination of such that I have seen, but it works. And works very well!

Hopefully more towns will follow Watford City’s approach of “If we can’t find help, we will just do it ourselves.”