Medora prepares for ‘presidential’ transformation with hope and some anxiety

Visitors driving into Medora on any recent crisp autumn morning are currently greeted by a flurry of activity in preparation for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library next July. 

Traffic slows to a crawl and flaggers funnel cars through a lane of orange cones near the edge of town on its east, all the way past the Medora Campground near the Little Missouri just to its west. 

Pavers hiss, trucks idle, jackhammers break up sections of road. It is loud, dusty and slightly inconvenient for locals, and for many here, a sign that things are about to change. 

The addition of the presidential library is a once-in-a-generation project that will transform Medora from being a mainly summer destination into a year-round draw. 

The opening on July 4, 2026, will coincide with the many events across the country as the U.S. commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

The town’s roughly 100 residents are excited about the opportunities, but also a bit anxious about how big an impact the opening will have and what happens when quiet seasons stop being so quiet. 

Changes in seasonal rhythms 

For decades, Medora has followed a familiar beat: surging in summer for the Medora Musical, tourists and families spilling into Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then tapering to a whisper by late fall. 

In the winter, restaurants reduce hours, shops hibernate, locals breathe. Some use the time to get out of town. 

That rhythm is about to change. 

TRPL officials expect 150,000–185,000 visitors to the presidential library in year one, stabilizing around 200,000 annually. 

“We’ll operate seven days a week during the summer with around 2,600 people coming through the building,” said TRPL chief communications officer Matt Briney. “You’ll probably have a timed ticket in the summer, and that’ll likely be by the hour. We’ll learn a lot in the first summer, and we’ll get better at it next summer.” 

Briney said the opening celebrations will be a weeklong event around July 4th next summer, with a member-focused period the week after. After that, the library will adopt a more general admission system. 

The TRPL is working with Medora to reduce congestion and issues related to increased traffic or potential delays due to visiting dignitaries, though locals are still awaiting details on what exactly to expect around that time. 

Residents got a preview of some disruption when Vice President J.D. Vance and his family visited on July 4 this year. 

That visit caused delays on the roads, including disrupting people coming in from Dickinson for work, some residents said, and shut the town down temporarily at times during that day.

Ella-Jo Corneil, president of the Medora Chamber and owner of Todd’s Old Time Photos & Gifts, said there’s some nervousness in the community about what to expect, but also a sense of building excitement. 

“We just keep talking about in our meetings that people need to be prepared,” she said. “I think the big thing we keep trying to tell businesses is to prepare. You need to make sure you have enough to keep your shelves full that week, because it’s going to be a busy week.” 

Western Edge Books owner Doug Ellison, a former Medora mayor, said he believes many Medora visitors are looking forward to the opening of the presidential library. 

“Overall, the mood is positive, optimistic,” Ellison said, adding he sometimes hears concern about how it could impact Medora, but doesn’t think it would lead to major changes to its character. 

“When all is said and done, I think it’s going to be a big asset, not just for this area, but for the region and the state,” Ellison said. “I think the whole state’s going to benefit from this.” 

Year-round destination

If Medora is going year-round, the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation (TRMF) intends to meet visitors where they are, through all four seasons.

“We’ve always had other offerings, it’s just obviously we’re more popular in the summer with the musical going on,” said Holly George, TRMF marketing director. 

Currently, the foundation has a six-week fall show: Cash vs King, which celebrates the music of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. In December, it will offer a three-week Christmas show, followed by a New Year’s program. 

“Spring seems to start earlier and earlier, and with the library coming, it’s going to be more year-round,” George said. “Our lodging will start to be filled, more and more, in the ‘off-season months’ so to speak.” 

The foundation is planning production for next summer to align with the country’s 250th birthday celebration and the opening of the library, George said. 

“It should be epic and should be an amazing show,” she said, adding that the musical will continue during the opening celebrations for the library. 

Lodging capacity is expanding to meet expected demand. The foundation is building a 100-room hotel, The Presidential Lodge, which is currently framed and rising just near the Medora Campground entrance on the western edge of town. George said the hotel is on schedule to open around July 1, 2026. 

TRMF is also developing an event barn campus next to the Bully Pulpit Golf Course south of Medora, which will have room for weddings, reunions, corporate retreats, dedicated ceremony space, and two 10-unit motel buildings alongside it that could also open next summer.  

Site prep is underway after the clearing of an old barn and two dilapidated outbuildings with a target opening for the entire complex in the spring of 2027. 

A second phase envisions a group of cabins on the outer perimeter of the property backing up to the buttes beyond, with those cabins potentially on a limited ownership or timeshare-type model, George said. No timeframe has been set for that phase. 

Closer to town, TRMF is pushing smaller upgrades. This includes a revamp of the paving at the Badlands Motel, and the addition of a large bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, pointing up the hill, planned for the roundabout’s center. 

Among other upgrades, state crews are widening the road past the campground, and the access road up to the musical and library is also being widened. 

Once the library opens, particularly for those first few weeks in July, lodging and camping space will be sparse. Much of the lodging around town is already booked by the TRPL for that period. 

Briney said TRPL is discussing with local and state partners about the potential for more camping and “glamping” space nearby, with possible options near the Chateau de Mores State Historical Site, at existing campgrounds or in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Overflow to nearby Belfield, Dickinson, Beach and even further away is inevitable.  

“People are going to have to drive from a little bit outside, which people already do now,” Corneil said. “We’re full to capacity now on some nights in the summer because we’re a tourist town and every tourist town is that way.” 

Year-round programming 

After the July festivities, TRPL’s draw won’t be just the building but a continued series of programs at the library as well as online. 

The library recently hired an education and exhibits director and plans to rotate shows, kicking off with a temporary exhibit of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly’s work in October 2026. 

Other programming will blend museum and landscape, Briney said, with guided hikes, along with mountain biking and horseback options via local outfitters. 

TRPL is also building a robust virtual slate with online lectures, symposiums and podcasts. 

Presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin recently came to Medora for a private event in what will likely be a long procession of well-known figures. 

“We’re bringing in some big names into the community and they're going to be able to experience this,” Briney said. “We're really excited for the opportunities that it will be both a place where things will happen here on site and happen across the country too. There will always be a digital livestream component to the work that we do.” 

Through a partnership between Microsoft and TRPL, people from across the world will eventually be able to visit the library’s website to ask questions of an AI “virtual historian” about the life and work of President Roosevelt. 

“We think it could help inspire more biographers to write about more obscure topics in Theodore Roosevelt’s life and his time here in the badlands,” Briney said. 

Merging architecture and landscape 

While construction can be seen on top of the butte from below, much of that will disappear once the library is finished and its grass-covered roof merges with the landscape. 

Briney said the library is pursuing a certification called the Living Building Challenge, which is only held by 36 other buildings worldwide and only one other in the Upper Midwest region. It would be the only large-scale museum to hold the certification, he said. 

The design will allow the building to produce 105% of its energy, partially through on-site solar canopies that are appearing in the parking lot and geothermal design. 

A custom prairie seed mix with native species collected from within 50 miles of the site will cover the roof and surrounding grounds, which will aid in both rainwater capture.

The building itself will harvest rainfall on the roof to be used in a gray water system, and low-flow fixtures and low-carbon materials also help shrink the carbon footprint of the building, Briney said. 

“The building has a tremendous amount of sustainability aspects to it, which is fitting for a president who set aside over 230 million acres of public lands,” Briney said. 

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