North Dakota To Pay Operating Costs For Welk Farmstead

The Legislature two years ago included $100,000 in the State Historical Society’s budget for the purchase of the home in Strasburg.

Senators had wanted an appropriation of $135,000 over the next two years for maintenance and to pay part-time staff. North Dakota’s House voted against the funding.

A House-Senate conference committee reached a compromise and recommended that $100,000 should be spent to pay staff and maintain the home.

Both chambers approved the funding Tuesday.

The State Historical Society hopes the Welk home can be a tourist draw to tout in part the region’s German-Russian heritage.