KILLDEER - Thorris Sandvick and Terrald Bang aren't Dunn County's oldest guys by a stretch, but they say the newest project in town is not about them.

It's about generations that come after them, most still unborn.

The two men are helping lead the effort to raise big money in a region where there is big money flowing from oil wells and in some cases from successful farms, ranches and businesses.

They need $7 million to build what they say will be 91,000 square feet of western North Dakota's premiere indoor rodeo and events center, coupled with a large gathering facility, technology center, commercial kitchen, tourism center and plaza.

The dream is called High Plains Cultural Center. It would dress up and energize Killdeer's south face, out where the rodeo grounds now stand and will continue to.

To the pair of country gentlemen and the 24 others on committees, it's high time for such a place on the state's western high Plains.

The center is already executed in colorful architectural drawings and a black-and-white floor plan.

Sandvick said when it's complete in 2010, a guy would have to go as far as Billings, Mont., to find another like it.

The committee is hoping to build a regional center that accommodates all manner of events. Those would include, but not be limited to, the kind that requires a cowboy hat, on par with exhibitions, boat shows and the like, educational opportunities, performances and gatherings of all kinds.

In turn, they envision a need for more lodging and eating facilities and related enterprises in the area.

It would be a way for Killdeer to get a rope around its future, hopefully attracting young families to the community and thereby putting children in the school.

"People ask why at our age are we pushing for this," Sandvick said. "This is for our children, for down the road. We don't believe everyone should move to Bismarck and Dickinson."

With more oil flowing in Dunn and nearby counties than ever before, they're hoping some folks or corporations might see their way to giving donations in the $1 million range.

They've been making kitchen and conference table calls, spreading out brochures and a business plan in hopes of getting early and all-important pledges.

There are no commitments, yet, but Sandvick and Bang said "people are giving it some thought."

Mike Kiedrowski, of MJK Consulting, Dickinson, was hired to put the polish on their efforts, so they have the organization and answers supporters should expect with that kind of money in the balance.

Kiedrowski said donations to the project will get a kind reception at tax time because of the project's nonprofit tax status.

Bang said that Uncle Sam makes the tax provisions to encourage community giving.

"The oil money is definitely going to help a lot," he said.

The project will move to groundbreaking when half of the goal is met in pledges and cash, hopefully two springs from now.

Sandvick and Bang say the center - initially and still a project of the Dunn County Fair Association - will not depend on local property or sales tax.

"It (local taxes) wouldn't be enough to run it," he said.

Instead, the center's plan calls for a facility manager and use and rental income to offset expenses with a modest carryover.

The idea of such a facility has been in the works for several years, but the decision to move forward with professional fundraising know-how has finally moved it out of the chute.

People from around the area were invited to review the project, and at each one, the vision grew larger until today, when the project is anchored to western-style activities but with a menu of options for its use.

Bang said people continue to have questions and the committee intends to provide answers.

"It's touted as an indoor arena, but it has so many more possibilities," he said.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)