Valley City, ND  (KCSi-T.V. News)  —  The Barnes County Historical Society Lecture Series Season 15 Presents: Claudia Berg of the State Historical Society of North Dakota “The Expansion Project and Future of SHSND.” Monday September 24th at 7PM

The North Dakota Heritage Center is doubling in size.  Although the state museum is located on the State Capitol Grounds in Bismarck, this expansion benefits every cultural and heritage organization across the state and could benefit main street businesses too.  Creating a destination for North Dakota, the Heritage Center provides an overview of North Dakota history, geology and geography.  Through the interpretation in the exhibits and Hub of History it has been a goal, from the beginning of the project, to send visitors out across the state to see where history happened, visit area attractions, meet North Dakotans and stay for lunch and taste the specialties at a local café.  Heritage tourism is a growing industry and North Dakota has a history that is as deep and rich as any other state.  There are wonderful existing attractions and numerous opportunities to create new venues through local partnerships building on resources not yet discovered.  

The construction of the Heritage Center will be completed by early spring 2013.  The exhibits are in development and each of the four galleries will open over a period of 16 months culminating on November 2, 2014 as part of the 125th anniversary of North Dakota statehood.  Come see what the new North Dakota Heritage Center will become and what the Hub of History can mean for you.  

Claudia Berg, Expansion and New Initiatives Coordinator for the State Historical Society, has been enfranchising partners and stakeholders, and acting as a conduit between architects, staff, Boards, Foundation, and the public for the past four years.  Additional responsibilities include creating statewide partnerships for heritage tourism initiatives.  A native of Minot and graduate of UND, Berg has been with the Historical Society since 1981.

The public is cordially invited

All Lectures are at the Barnes County Historical Society Museum and held in conjunction with Valley City State University.  They are free and open to the public.

For more information contact Wes Anderson at 701-845-0966