City of Mandan Looks to Bring in Entertainment District

Some vacant spaces are being considered by the city of Mandan for an entertainment district known as 'The Railyard.'

According to Valley News Live, with a grant from the Mandan Supplemental Environmental Projects Trust, last summer, the city of Mandan purchased the former Central Market and Thrifty White Drug properties for $1.5 million. The city commission is open to suggestions on how to approach the potential new development, however, they have yet to approve any official plans for the project.

The proposed idea is to use the former grocery store as a modern library and event hall. This move would mean vacating the Morton Mandan Public Library's freight house location, according to Mandan officials. Ellen Huber, Mandan's business development director, has stated that the library's current freight house location could be used to house a restaurant, art gallery, or brew pub.

Mandan Mayor Tim Helbling said in an interview with Valley News Live:

We think we could market that (freight house) building so much easier and get people to downtown Mandan...You could move the library into a newer space, a lot quieter space.

No official decisions have been made as of yet on the potential project.