Community Bowl Expansion | Video

Joel Porter | 6/25/2012

Contractors are on site prepping for the beginning stages of expanding the Bismarck Community Bowl.

"We think that when folks come to the community and they`re thinking about moving here, it`s probably one of those things that they`ll go see, because the bowl really does represent a great public, private partnership," said Bismarck-Mandan Chamber President Kelvin Hullet.

However, the Protect Our Turf Campaign remains about a million dollars short of its eight million dollar target.

"The campaign chairman said that until we raised all eight million dollars, we would not begin construction."

That`s why Hullet plans to ask Bismarck city leaders to kick in the remaining funding.

"I think in our conversations with the city commission, we think this`ll be a very positive conversation."

If the one million dollars request is approved by the city, work could begin on the locker rooms and other facilities sometime this summer.

"It`s when you actually get down and really start looking at the infrastructure and look at the track, the locker rooms, all of those sorts of things and understand, the concession stands weren`t big enough and that we`ve outgrown the media spaces, that you really understood we needed to make some changes at the bowl," Hullet said.

With two million dollars pledged to the project, MDU Resources controls naming rights for the new bowl. Hullet says the rest has come from private donors. However, he`ll need a few more votes of confidence at Tuesday`s meeting before the heavy lifting can begin.

The construction is expected to be completed in a year. The Protect Our Turf Campaign is planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday morning.

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