Roosevelt Library Showcases Mass Timber and Conservation Legacy

Mass timber will be on dramatic display when the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum opens adjacent to the North Dakota Badlands on the 250th birthday of the founding of the U.S. next July 4.

The 96,000 square foot facility features an earthen-covered roof constructed in part with glulam and cross-laminated timber. The shaped roof mimics the lines of the surrounding Black Hills country.

The Medora, ND site was selected because of President Roosevelt’s history as an adventurous rancher in the area. He moved to the ranch and mourned his first wife, Alice, after she died two days after giving birth to their first child in 1884.

The structure was designed to display Roosevelt’s work as a conservationist. The building features a building envelope that is constructed largely of wood, befitting his role as founder of the Forest Service.

JE Construction, the general contractor for the project, said that the building is more than 60% completed. More than 200 geothermal wells will help warm the building during cold North Dakota winters.