State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation - Society and Foundation News

Hess Corporation give $2 million to Heritage Center Expansion, six other energy companies give another $1.35 million

Posted 9/29/10 (Wed)

The Hess Corporation has donated $2 million to the North Dakota Heritage Center Expansion project. It is the largest single private gift to date and puts the capital campaign for private donations past the required amount to begin construction. Donations by six other energy companies were also announced today, bringing an additional $1.35 million to the project.

View photos from the announcement

Governor John Hoeven announced these gifts in the main gallery of the North Dakota Heritage Center. He was joined by John Simon, senior vice president of production for Hess Corporation, representatives of other contributor companies, state officials, legislative leaders, regional energy industry representatives, board and staff members from the State Historical Society of North Dakota and its Foundation, and other Heritage Center volunteers and supporters.

The Hess Corporation is one of North Dakota’s pioneers in oil development, having a major presence in the state for the past 60 years. Amerada Oil, which merged with the Hess Corporation in 1969, drilled North Dakota’s first oil well, Clarence Iverson Number 1, in eastern Williams County on April 4, 1951. The $2 million gift will sponsor the Northern Lights Atrium at the new main entrance of the Heritage Center.

“This is an exciting day for the North Dakota Heritage Center, a showcase for North Dakota’s rich culture and history,” said Hoeven. “In addition to recognizing the generous contributions of Hess Corporation and other major partners in North Dakota’s energy industry, we are also celebrating the launch of construction for this historic expansion project.”

“Hess was the first to discover oil in North Dakota at the Clarence Iverson Well. Since then, operations in the state have served as an engine helping to fueling our growth as we have become a global company operating in 20 countries, producing more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day,” said Simon. “Hess and its employees are proud to be active participants in the state’s history and to have this opportunity to commemorate your legacy and ours with the expansion of the Center.”  

Major gifts from the other six donors announced today range from $350,000 to $100,000 and total $1.35 million. The donors and the areas their gifts are sponsoring are:

Two other major gifts to the North Dakota Heritage Center, also from energy companies, were announced last December and January. They were $1.3 million from Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, and $1.8 million from Continental Resources, Inc. To date, the energy industry has contributed a total of $6.55 million to the Heritage Center expansion project.

Merl Paaverud, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, said the expansion of the Heritage Center, which will nearly double its size with the addition of 97,000 square feet, should be completed by 2014, the 125^th anniversary of North Dakota. “What better time than that to showcase an extraordinary state museum that reflects our rich heritage and history, not only for us, but also for our children and for generations to come,” Paaverud said.