Discover the untold stories behind the creation of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library with JLG’s podcast, “Bold by Nature” — where history and innovation converge in the heart of North Dakota’s Badlands. While Roosevelt first arrived in North Dakota on a hunting trip in 1883, it was his return that truly changed American history.
JLG’s podcast explores the remarkable collaboration behind the Library’s realization in an unexpected place: Medora, North Dakota. Hear from the passionate team at JLG Architects—founded in North Dakota—and their world-class partners as they share behind-the-scenes insights, challenges, and triumphs. Join the conversation as we uncover the pioneering spirit and bold civic vision defining this extraordinary destination.
00:00:05
Welcome to Bold by Nature. This is the JLG Architects podcast exploring the untold stories behind the creation of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.
00:00:18
Right now, as we’re recording this, is the big week. This is the grand opening. In just a few days from now, the world will get to see what you all knew about a long time ago, a little bit more personally. There were hundreds of people that gave their all to make this a reality, and we know that those of you on the call with us today, our special guests, you’re some of those people.
00:00:42
So we wanted to start, this is the very first episode, we want to start with some of the upfront stories, how this library came to be, what all had to happen to make it work in Medora and in this spot.
00:00:59
Today we have Amy McCann with Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, Stacy Swanson with Billings County, and Zach Mathern with JLG Architects. I’m going to ask each of you to just share a little bit about your life leading up to when you became a part of this project, and also share when you became a part of this project. Some of us, it was a long time ago. Amy, let’s go ahead and start with you.
00:01:31
I moved to Medora 13 years ago with my husband and two kids. I became a stay-at-home mom while my husband worked for Theodore Roosevelt National Park. As my kids got a lot older, I started working and I was actually a park ranger at Theodore Roosevelt National Park for about five years.
00:02:00
I remember in 2016, which was the centennial of the National Park Service, when there was a festival about the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. I joined that festival and those conversations were happening about this place, this thing that was coming to North Dakota.
00:02:33
But for me, it really started in 2020. I met Ken Veen, who was on the project, and I knew Ken whenever he came onto the project. I was a park ranger at the time. He came into the park, and I was so excited to see him because I knew him and I knew about this project. I’m like, wow, this is really going to happen. This is going to happen here. They hired people.
00:03:09
And I went up to Ken and I started just telling him about all of the challenges he was going to have. I know this community. I know how they’re feeling. I know this landscape. I know how remote it is. Challenge, challenge, challenge. And I was throwing that at him, and I think that he was probably thinking, hmm, yeah, this might be the person to ask to join the team.
00:03:40
And so when he asked me to join the library, I tell you what, it was really exciting, but man was I intimidated. I was just like, wow, this is huge. This has never been done before. I’m not sure about this. And he’s like, no, Amy, come on up, check out the design competition. No, you don’t have to make a decision today. Just come up and learn more about it. Because being part of the Park Service, we were protected and as a federal employee, not engaged in that way.
00:04:25
And so whenever he asked me, I’m like, okay, I’ll come up, I’ll check it out. I was just blown away by how much care was being taken. Whenever I decided, it was hard to decide to make that shift from working for the National Park Service to come over and work for the library. But looking back on it now, where we are in this moment, it’s been one of the greatest privileges in my career. A decade later.
00:04:59
And Stacy, I’m curious if you attended that same community event with the design architects, because I remember that moment as well. Were you there?
00:05:09
Yeah, I was there too. And actually, I’ve been the county planning and zoning person for Billings County since 2011. At that time, the oil boom was going on and we had heard about the Theodore Roosevelt Library, but it was always focused in Dickinson. And then when it really hit here, it was kind of a surprise to everybody because it was during Governor Burgum’s State of the State address in January 2019.
00:05:57
The first address was just like a normal governor speech talking about the highs of North Dakota and population trends and oil and gas development. And then he closed with, “And to leave our legacy, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will be at the entrance of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.” And I’m like, huh? Did anybody know about this? This is brand new news to me.
00:06:16
And so that was really the timeline of like, okay, this is a project and now I need to get ready for it. And then it was kind of quiet for a while, and then there was a first community meeting in April of 2019. Governor Burgum’s office wasn’t there and the library board wasn’t there, but there were some park service people there. At first it was being planned for the park and then nobody really knew for sure where it was going to be. There were a lot of unknowns, and then the site was selected, and then yeah, the design competition was a fun moment where you got to meet the designers.
00:07:00
And then Zach, do you mind sharing your first moments with this project?
00:07:05
Yeah. I originally started working with JLG in Grand Forks, but then I think it was maybe 2015 or sometime around there, I moved out to Dickinson, North Dakota. So I was kind of nearby-ish. And of course, originally the library was planned to be in Dickinson. So JLG had a unique kind of opportunity to be involved in some of the really early idea generation about what is a presidential library, what does it even mean for a presidential library to be in North Dakota for Theodore Roosevelt.
00:07:43
So my first kind of official experience was an immersion experience where we went out to the Elkhorn Ranch unit of the National Park where Theodore Roosevelt had his Elkhorn cabin. We sat in a circle with folks from the National Park, scholars of Theodore Roosevelt, the DSU Roosevelt Center that’s been scanning Theodore Roosevelt’s papers and documents for over 10 years. We met with that group of people just to kind of talk about what would this maybe be. And we specifically talked about the Elkhorn Cabin and whether there might be a recreation of this historic structure. So that was part of my work early on, actually researching and designing a recreation of this cabin that would maybe go at the Presidential Library. And so that was in May of 2016.
00:08:41
And then I started doing a few things personally and with the planning group. I went camping out at the Elkhorn Ranch unit, and I just found out today it was on July 1st of 2016 that I camped there alone. And so I’ll be camping again on July 1st of 2026 nearby the Presidential Library as well. So that’s kind of like a full circle thing I just realized today.
00:09:13
So yeah, that was my first kind of involvement in the project very early on before it truly had a site. And obviously that site changed a few times and eventually made its way to Medora.
00:09:26
Well, I know all of us have talked briefly about the journey of where the library will be. It’s been in different spots throughout North Dakota, maybe beyond. Amy, I’m wondering if you can share a little bit about how it arrived where it is today.
00:09:45
Sure. Well, I can tell you what my perspective would be on that. I think about Theodore Roosevelt, and a lot of times presidential libraries will end up in the location that someone was born. TR was born in New York and he had died there as well, and much of his political career and life unfolded in the East.
00:10:22
But whenever you think about some of that history that TR had and the question of why North Dakota, we know that he said, “I never would have been president if it hadn’t been for my experience in North Dakota.” And we think back at that time, being a young man and losing his wife and mother on Valentine’s Day on the same day at such a young age, it was so devastating to him. And so he comes out here to the Badlands, just devastated and almost depressed in a way, not wanting to live anymore. But then he throws himself into that ranching life, the hunting life. And he even once said, “If I lost all of my memories and only had one, which one would it be?” And it would be as a rancher in North Dakota.
00:11:30
This place had a lot of spiritual connections with TR. But it was also the place where he was reborn, where he was transformed. This place, the Badlands, constantly has that for people. When they come and they visit, they’re constantly looking at the Badlands and wondering about them and questioning them because they’re so unique and different. It transforms a lot of our thinking, and this library and what it is today will do that for people.
00:12:11
I think it’s so fitting for it to be here in the Badlands, and not just on this view in Medora, but it is in between the Elkhorn Ranch and the Maltese Cross Ranch, TR’s two ranches. It’s on the doorstep of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and it’s surrounded by the Little Missouri grasslands. TR created all of these things, so it’s such a fitting place for his library.
00:12:48
If there’s one thing I’ve learned working with you, Amy, for the past five or six years, it’s that you love the Badlands and you’re a great source of knowledge when it comes to the wildlife, when it comes to the plants. One of my favorite memories of this project was picking out the rammed earth wall colors with you and just being able to go through and vote and talk about the different colors of the Badlands and the different seasons and the different lights. You were just always such a positive and energetic voice through this whole process, very pro-Badlands.
00:13:26
One of the things I think is most beautiful about this project is that the land transition was an act of Congress that was signed by the President of the United States. But the zoning had to change for it to become a presidential library, and that decision was made by just a handful of local politicians that represented and were leaders in Medora. You have both ends of the spectrum there. Would you mind just sharing the Billings County processes that we had to go through in order for this to be built, this type of project to be built on this land?
00:14:06
Yep, yeah, there were several zoning meetings. The first one would be the rezoning or the subdivision plat of the 90 acres to confirm that there’s access to the site, so there’s an easement from Chateau Road up to the site. And then we did a full rework of our recreational zoning district in preparation of the library. We increased or amended regulations so that we have aesthetic guidelines and requirements for using natural materials and being dark sky friendly with lighting and native landscaping whenever possible. And I mean, that’s not just for the library but for development surrounding Medora, which is kind of considered our recreational area for zoning that’s geared towards the tourism industry. And so I think it’s been a good change.
00:15:15
And I know, Zach, as we were moving through the design, there were a lot of agencies, whether city agencies or county agencies, that we had met with and got to know much better through the process to make sure they were comfortable with what was happening. Could you share a little bit about those interactions?
00:15:37
Yeah, early on I think there was communication between the city of Medora and Billings County about who really has jurisdiction here and how should we handle requirements about signage and building siting and setbacks and things. While I wasn’t involved in those conversations necessarily, it really impacted our work as we were submitting information and keeping all these entities involved in the process.
00:16:13
I think it was really great that the county and the city kind of designated which entity was going to be in charge of which thing, which really helped us streamline which code or ordinance we needed to make sure we were following. And in a lot of cases, we followed county zoning. And in a few unique situations where the city has a lot of care and interest in preserving kind of a historic feel for Medora, we then kind of went to the city zoning for those types of things. So I think that framework of agreement and working together in Medora amongst all the entities is a really unique thing that I haven’t seen on other projects.
00:17:05
But that was helpful for us ultimately in knowing what we were supposed to be following. Of course, the state had some involvement. Some of the systems are really complex and the water treatment system is beyond anything that’s ever been done, not only locally but regionally. And so some of the systems, specifically waste and water systems, are more regulated on a state level. So it kind of ranges from local city to state level regulations, and we regularly communicated with each of those groups to make sure that everyone was understanding what’s happening on the project.
00:17:56
And that was a big part of the work: how do you translate something that is very complex, maybe bigger and grander and more complex than has been done locally? How do you communicate those ideas to these various entities so that they understand what you’re trying to do?
00:18:17
Stacy, did you want to comment on that?
00:18:19
Yeah, I’d just like to expand. We did have kind of a unique situation that not very many counties and cities have. Medora used to always have a one-half mile extraterritorial zoning authority, and then in May of 2020 they had their final reading, which had first begun in March of 2020, to expand their extraterritorial zone from one-half mile to one mile. And when that happens, the county and the city have joint jurisdiction over the process. So we were still learning who’s in charge. And then the city and the county entered a joint powers agreement so that we both have a say in everything that happens in the ETC, which is kind of unique because it covers even the first half mile of the ETC plus the second half mile of the ETC. And so sometimes with development projects, the library learned along with us on how we were going to approach this project.
00:19:31
Absolutely. And it wasn’t even just the city and the county in Medora. Amy, I know you had great relationships and set up a lot of meetings and interactions. I’m thinking of the individuals we met that were even responsible for emergency services, that volunteered for the fire department. Could you share some of the partnerships and people that you engaged with in the community, maybe beyond the city or county?
00:20:01
Yeah, I think that was such an important time to be communicating not just to the immediate community, but the surrounding community as well. So throughout this whole process, the design process, even before we got to zoning, JLG Architects and Snohetta met with emergency services, but not just them. We took the opportunity to make sure that everyone in the area and the people in the community knew what was happening and going on. So yeah, we met with different grazing folks. We met with different community businesses to talk to them about, and even to get input on the design. It was like, hey, people that run kitchens, we would go and talk to people in Medora. Here’s our ideas. What do you think?
00:21:09
And so I believe that all of that community input, even with our tribal nations, the constant transparency in what we were doing really led to the success. Once we got to that decision process, it made it easy because you had engaged with all of the zoning people and county commissioners, city zoning, city council, grazing association, Forest Service. Even some of the other economies surrounding Medora, I would go to and give them updates and tell them what’s going on. We even had community meetings as well to let people know what’s going on, but then also to give them a chance for their voice to be heard, to express their concerns, and then to have discussions about those concerns as well.
00:22:12
I feel like all of those meetings for maybe two and a half or three years really paid off whenever it came time for the zoning and the county commissioners to make those decisions. They knew everything about the project. They had a say. They had an input. Even those lights, the night sky, that was a fun experiment to go through with the county. Like, okay, this is what you want, this is what we want, we’re on the same page, but now let’s learn about it.
00:22:59
All of that work, Jen, that you guys did in being there in the community and answering the questions and the transparency made it easy, I feel like, when it came time for the big scary decisions that needed to be made. I was always surprised sometimes by how smart these local community members are and the questions that the commissioners would ask us that were very specific about the photovoltaic system capacity. Just a group of people that are very thoughtful and intelligent and want to know the details and fully understand the problem.
00:23:46
Was there anything throughout being a part of this community that was a hiccup for anyone, that was surprising to you about the project? Something you were just like, oh, I’m surprised that that’s something they’re concerned about or worried about for the future?
00:24:08
I was surprised that the county even had some of these things in their recreational zoning related to dark sky lighting and related to preserving the ridge line. There are major cities that don’t have any of that. As a design firm, we want to make those forward-thinking, good design decisions, but we’re not required to in many of the locations we work. And to see that we were required to follow some of those forward-thinking things in somewhere as rural as Medora and Billings County was very refreshing. It wasn’t like, oh no, I have to meet this zoning requirement. It was like, whoa, there’s a requirement that I need to provide this good lighting and not too much. Thank you for having that guideline so that we can do good design. So that was really surprising and wonderful for us.
00:25:14
And you know what, Zach, when I think about where we are now with the building built, whenever you come up Chateau Road and you look over at the building, all you’re seeing is this vegetative roof, right? And it’s rising from the earth. You don’t really see how massive it is. You just see this vegetation, this thing over there that looks like it belongs in the land. And I know that we’ve talked a lot about it and we had that vision of it, but actually seeing it, today is like I get to experience that with people now. They’re like, oh my gosh, this building, when they get inside, they’re like, this building is huge. I’m like, yeah, it didn’t seem huge when you’re looking at it on the outside.
00:26:02
No, and even when we did the hillside ridgeline views, you know, and we talked about being able to see it from Pacific Avenue up that draw, and that was one of those things that we had to get a variance for. Even down there, when people look at it, it doesn’t look that big. It’s always so much fun for me today for people to get into the lobby and be like, wow, this is a lot bigger than what I thought it was. I’m like, yes, that’s what the design was meant to do. Good surprises.
00:26:44
Well, I know with the night sky, one of the things that I thought was a big win, as everyone on this call knows, there were a lot of decisions that had to be made, thousands and thousands of them. And there were two sides to almost every decision. One of the decisions that I am so grateful for is that there was no lighting around the loop, around the boardwalk loop, just to allow the night sky and experiencing that as you walk around and go off onto the site. Granted, you have to be careful, but you need to be careful in the Badlands, right? And so there are just a lot of those kind of moments that could have gone one way, could have gone another way. And it’s just beautiful as it is out there.
00:27:31
I was wondering, as you all imagined this day, July 4th, 2026, once it comes and it’s here, there’s always something that is surprising for us. And like Amy, you stated that we knew the building was always going to blend into the landscape, but it really blends into the landscape. Is there anything else that, just being out there on a 99.9% completed project, you just didn’t expect and is a pleasant surprise? And I’m hoping Stacy, maybe you have one, or Zach, as you’re out there these last couple of weeks, I hope you guys have had a chance to go and experience it.
00:28:19
Well, I guess for me, it wasn’t completely surprising, but the rammed earth walls on the inside just make the lobby space. It’s one of those, yeah, I like the layering and everything. You can definitely see it, and we watched it kind of go up, and then I thought it was just like one wall, but then no, it’s like a series of walls where you are kind of amongst the buttes. And so that was surprising.
00:28:51
And then there are other details, there’s so much symbology built within the building itself that I didn’t really know about until you take the tours. One thing that I liked with the preview was that part of the lobby’s front desk was a tree that was in New York that Theodore Roosevelt had planted. And so that tree has been used a couple of times throughout the process, and the symbology started even from day one when the zoning application was submitted to the county on October 27th. So it’s like, okay, we know that’s Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. That’s another layer. And there are allusions to the brands, and even the rammed earth wall, I think, is 26 feet high because he’s the 26th president. That’s what they said too. And so some things are, yeah, it’s fun to learn. OK, yep, they are definitely building in whatever symbology, which is cool. And it personalizes everything about the building.
00:30:11
Some of the one thing that I noticed when I came to the preview opening last Friday, I got there as staff were getting to the building and as contractors and workers finalizing details were getting to the building. So it was around 8 AM and I never imagined the experience of being kind of back in the back parking lot and seeing this little swarm of people getting out of their vehicles. There were a couple of people showing up on bikes, and then walking and making their way to the building from all these different directions and then meeting at some of the pathways and then walking to the building together.
00:31:04
That was a sequence that, yeah, I knew people were going to park in the parking lot and walk to the building, but to see dozens of people doing it all at once to get to work at 8 was like a really interesting experience that I wouldn’t have imagined. The fact that people were walking and outside in this amazing landscape, going to this amazing building, was a really unique thing. I think not a lot of people going to work in an office experience that kind of thing.
00:31:49
Those are great comments. I just have a couple questions left. And these are kind of more around Medora today, because I think everybody was just really curious about what today would be like for Medora, for somebody that lives in Medora or visits or has a business in Medora. So I’d love to hear your thoughts on the challenges that you’re seeing in Medora, and then some of the opportunities. Amy, I’ll let you pick what you want from that list.
00:32:20
Well, I think just North Dakota in general, the challenge is workforce. And this being such a small town with not a lot of places to build around here, workforce housing I think remains as one of our biggest challenges in our community. As visitation grows and new opportunities emerge, we need to be able to attract more employees, not just ourselves, but all of our other businesses in town need to be able to attract employees and for those employees to have a place to live as well. So I think that’s one of the biggest challenges.
00:33:05
I have to say the opportunities, Jen. The water infrastructure, the sidewalks, all of the pedestrian safety. Everyone is using the new crosswalks. They’re purposely using them. I’m watching it happen. People are crossing in places where the crosswalks were actually put in, and they’re like new locations, and I’ve even used some of those too. And so all of the infrastructure that’s been added to the community for pedestrians, even the extra green space, has been so fun for me because it’s easy to be a pedestrian in Medora, but the library coming has made it even easier. There are more sidewalks and pedestrian safety, and so I’ve really enjoyed seeing that happen.
00:34:02
What are you seeing, Stacy?
00:34:05
Well, I would say we’re probably in the biggest growth spurt that Medora has seen for quite some time. I’m not really sure what the ’60s were like in Medora. That was like the first kick-off where there was a lot of new construction in the community. And now we’re at another spike where it’s going to bring a new normal. And what that new normal is, I think it’s still exciting. But people are kind of cautious at the same time. Medora is a challenging community because we’re landlocked by federal lands. And so we can still have that small town feel, but then grow appropriately and find places for people to live and be more of a year-round community versus a seasonal community. That would be an aspiration.
00:35:11
Well, as an architect that grew up really close to the site, I remember the rest stops along I-94 were my inspiration to become an architect. I thought that they were cool and unique. That’s what I wanted to do, was design rest stops. And already, it’s July 4th and I know that so many young people in North Dakota are aware of this project and they’re aware of just something different and inspiring and face-melting that is available to them. Like they don’t have to fly to Paris to see this, it’s here. And it’s also infused with just these principles that are what our kids need, what we need to be good citizens, to be good people, to live our fullest life. And so I’m just so grateful that this building will inspire so many young people in the state. And not just in North Dakota, Montana and South Dakota are also so close that I could see schools visiting and becoming a part of this story too. So the impact is hard to measure.
00:36:22
But I do want to say that as Zach and I collaborated in our company to execute this work, it would have never been possible without working with you, Stacy, how organized you were, how thoughtful you were. We were able to collaborate through any question and concern and put everything in front of the leaders that we needed to through very clear processes. And Amy, the amount of knowledge you have about that place that we could infuse into the design and into the processes and communicate to the people. I just see you both as great leaders for years and years that have made that an enjoyable experience for us, but also so successful. So I just want to thank you for your time today. We’re super grateful to know you and to have gotten to work with you. Thank you so much.
00:37:21
Thank you for listening to Bold by Nature. These conversations are a reminder of just how extraordinary this project is, and we are so glad you’re along for the journey. Join us next time where we’ll go behind the scenes of one of the most ambitious features of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library: the living, walkable earth roof.
