​Keeping the governor safe

By Jim Fuglie

I was out for a walk on a fine Bismarck spring evening, strolling down 4th St. alongside the state capitol grounds, when I noticed some dirt work being done on the spot where the former governor’s residence had been, before it was demolished after a new house was built a few years ago, just 50 yards or so away. And the ground was torn up by vehicle tracks in the mud where the original driveway had been. So I walked through the mud and peered down into the hole where it looked like some kind of electrical or mechanical work was being done underground.

I was curious, so when I got home I texted Governor Kelly Armstrong (yeah, he was foolish enough to give me his cell phone number before he was elected and he hasn’t changed it) and asked if he was getting a swimming pool, saying that it was about time our governor had one for him and his family. He wrote back “No, just a fence upgrade.The current one is not very secure.”

Well, that made me curiouser, so I decided to do a little digging of my own. I got some help from an old friend, Mike Nowatzki, the governor’s press secretary. It’s a “fence upgrade” all right, but a pretty expensive one — $2,350,000 is the projected cost.

A little history: there have been three official North Dakota Governors’ residences in my lifetime. Only one really qualifies as a “mansion” in the historic sense of the word, as most states call the homes for their chief executives. That’s the one now operated as a State Historic Site in Bismarck’s historic district, a few blocks south of the capitol. That one, which rises up above most of the other homes in the neighborhood, as mansions should, was built in 1884 by a wealthy early North Dakota businessman who sold it to the state in 1893 for $5,000, to become a home for our governors.

Our governors lived in that house until 1960, when the state paid $200,000 to build a new home on the capitol grounds. Governors John Davis, Bill Guy, Art Link, George Sinner, Ed Schafer, John Hoeven, Jack Dalrymple and Doug Burgum lived in that one – Burgum only briefly before the state built him a new home in 2018. Allen Olson, who served between Link and Sinner, didn’t live in it because his children were in school up on the north side of town where he lived before becoming Governor and he didn’t want to move them.

During Burgum’s first term, the Legislature ponied up $4 million and a group of citizens, led by my friend Jim Poolman and Fargo Legislator Pam Anderson, raised another million. AND Burgum moved across his back lawn into a new $5 million home.

$5,000.

$200,000

$5,000,000

Three houses. Three price tags.

But times change over the years, as do appetites for things like governor’s mansions — a title which for which this one does, indeed, qualify. It’s one big, fancy place, with not only living quarters for the state’s first family, but a spacious gathering area for events of state importance.

But $5 million, as it turns out, wasn’t enough. As the project neared completion, the architects and builders realized that there wasn’t enough money to complete the security fences and driveways envisioned in the original plans. So the fence was moved up almost right against the house, leaving little room for the governor and his family to recreate outdoors. The approach to the home from the capitol mall was left pretty plain, instead of the impressive plans in the original design.

So it was left to Burgum’s successor, Kelly Armstrong, to decide if that should be fixed. He did. It is. Work is underway. In fact, as I write this in late April, I think it is getting close to being done, to finish the job envisioned back in 2018.

Armstrong’s no big spender, and is not generally given to ruffles and flourishes (careful observers will note he favors plain gray and dark blue suits and muted ties). But he recognized that the home’s designers had a good plan, and the plan ought to be finished, providing a look that North Dakota and all of our citizens, as we experience pretty good financial times and continue to gain prominence in the eyes of the nation, can be proud of.

But it’s more than that. America is different today than it was 60 years ago when we paid $200,000 for a house that had no security fence around it at all — way, way different. We’re a much more violent, dangerous place today than we’ve ever been, or ever imagined we might be. We’ve seen legislators murdered in Minnesota, several attacks on the President and just this spring our capitol grounds went on lockdown because a fellow with some mental health issues was involved in an armed standoff with police out in front of the State Library, just a hundred yards from the governor’s residence. But now we’re taking steps to make sure our capitol grounds and our state’s chief executive and his family are safe.

So, Nowatzki told me, the 2025 North Dakota Legislature ponied up the money and we’re now getting a whole new fence (which is projected to be $562,796) and a new front driveway (which is projected to cost $136,413). Other costs include the architectural services, surveying services, demolition, electrical work, security cameras, motion sensors, landscaping, front and rear gates and gate footings. Altogether: $2.35 million.

The new fence will completely surround the residence and will be moved away from its current location (which is up against the residence walls) to provide room for outdoor activities, not only for the family, but for guests and events. (I’m kind of hoping to get invited to a backyard barbecue sometime.)

There will be two gates. One is on 4th St, behind the residence, which will be locked, with electronic access for “authorized users.” (That’s the work I saw being done, which piqued my curiosity.) The front gate, from the capitol mall loop entrance, will normally be open during business hours and for scheduled activities.

I asked Mike if there would be cameras monitoring the fence and the gates. He said, “We cannot comment on security measures regarding the governor, first family, and residence (reference NDCC 44-04-25),” and “The North Dakota Highway Patrol’s capitol security team provides 24-hour monitoring of cameras throughout the capitol complex.”

Okay, fair enough. Welcome to 21st century America. There’s just a lot more to be worried about now than in 1893, or 1960 or 2018. We’re taking steps to keep out bad guys trying to get in to do harm to our first family. Good for us.