By Jay Stephenson
Valley City Times-Record

    With the recent announcement that the City Auditorium will be recognized on a national level, plans to restore the facility are moving forward.
    “Getting listed on the national register means that it is designated as a building that on a state and national level, it is historically important,” said Barnes County Historical Museum Curator and Bridges Arts Council member Wes Anderson. “So it allows us to apply for preservation grants, and encourages us to maintain the building and use it.”
    Last week, it was announced the City Auditorium, also known as the Valley City Municipal Auditorium, will be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, a federal government’s list of properties worthy of preservation.
    Anderson says the building’s cultural history and art deco architecture gives the building its unique style and historic significance.
    “There were proms, basketball games, wrestling, graduations, and we partly got Winter Show designation because of those two buildings being able to host the Winter Show,” Anderson said. “It was always a center of the community: Kenny Rogers sang there. The Grand Ole Opry was in there. Lots of stuff happened at that building.”
    If plans move forward to renovate the building, the outside exterior would stay the same with most focus concentrated on the inside gymnasium.
    “The gymnasium would be converted to a performing arts structure,” said Bobbie Hepper Olson. “We would have to construct a platform and balcony, but the building was originally designed to have a balcony, so we’d be just putting one back in.”
    Recently, the City Auditorium has mostly been home to sports events, school functions, and organizational meetings.
    Anderson says the Bridges Arts Council intends for the building to function as it did several decades ago.
    “The Boy Scouts would meet there. Classrooms would be added for art, as well as installing a stage for theatrical and musical productions, a dance studio, and an art gallery,” he said.
    The project has been in discussion for the past four years. Along with a $10,000 grant from the North Dakota Historical Society and $22,000 collected from fundraising efforts, the Bridges Arts Council recently received a $24,000 donation from a single family.