Community Projects: Watford City
On the edge of the badlands in northwestern North Dakota, sits the community of Watford City. Established in 1914, it was built at the end of the railroad line. Today, tourism and economic development efforts are working together to preserve the community’s past – and ensure a prosperous future. City leaders preserved the buildings they could…but also kept their history in mind while building new ones.
“We had to determine what buildings had some potential to be renovated,” said Gene Veeder of the McKensie County Job Development Authority. “Most of them were built on 24 inch centers, two by four walls, and wood structures that were very hazardous in terms of fire danger.” Many of the unfit buildings
North Dakota’s tax programs such as renaissance zones and tax abatements to encourage remodeling old buildings downtown. But with Watford City’s low property tax base, that didn’t provide much incentive so the city created a sales tax to establish a fund which could invest up to 25% of a total remodeling costs.
The fund helped main street businesses relocate to other buildings downtown so that the national headquarters of First International Bank and Trust could expand their building, in the process adding a new restaurant, a movie theater, and a community special events center to Watford City’s business core.
Watford City’s newest main street addition was designed to blend with the community’s western character.