Reflections on the Significance of Campus Renovation

The High Plains Reader published an intriguing article, "Gateways to History are Best Kept Open," by Ken Smith.  Smith focuses on the armory, a building built in 1905 on the campus of the former Manual Training School in Ellendale, ND.  His article also includes an historical sketch of the institution that evolved to become a branch campus of the University of North Dakota before closing in the early 1970s.

Work on the armory is now finished and in September, 2018 the current occupant of the campus, Trinity Bible College, will host an open house and also open two other renovated campus buildings of similar vintage, a residence hall and the president's home.  

Smith comments that , "Saving and refurbishing these structures is an accomplishment that deserves notice around the state and region. It hasn't been cheap or easy, but this good work deserves recognition far and wide."  

He also draws an interesting contrast with a controversy involving the University of North Dakota's upcoming decision on possible destruction of buildings of Wesley College.  Smith also notes an irony where the "...state’s leading secular university is about to demolish a set of buildings that were once devoted to a religious purpose. (While) Here in Ellendale our religiously based college is about to finish restoring a pair of buildings that were once devoted to a secular purpose."