New mass timber Teddy Roosevelt library aims to be one with nature

On July 4, 2026, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is scheduled to open on 93 acres in Medora, a town in North Dakota with under 130 permanent residents, but which nonetheless has become synonymous with the 26th President of the United States, who lived there for several years in the 1880s.

The under-construction $333 million library, situated on a Badlands butte near the Burning Hills Amphitheater, will not be a repository for Roosevelt’s papers or archives (which are mostly housed at Harvard University). Instead, the library’s goal is to honor the President’s legacy as a conservationist. Its design is informed by Roosevelt’s interest in environmental stewardship and his reflections about the landscape.

The single-story, 93,000-sf library/museum “is a journey preserving the existing landscape of diverse habitats punctuated with small pavilions allowing for reflection and activity,” according to the project’s website. “The main building’s gently sloping roof looks to the northeast, gazing out to the [70,447-acre] National Park, historical settings in the Little Missouri River valley, and the Elkhorn Ranch far in the distance, further connecting the Library of tomorrow with its origins of the past.”

“The Library is the landscape,” Edward O’Keefe, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, told the New York Times.

Mass timber complements construction

Mass timber is a significant component in the construction of the Library. The Mercer Mass Timber subsidiary of Mercer International is providing nearly 1,800 cubic meters of cross-laminated timber and glulam––harvested from sustainably managed forests––which are being used for the building’s structure that includes a green walkable roof, as well as a one-mile-long boardwalk loop in front of the Library that aligns with the roof’s curvature.

The green roof aims to restore the vegetation disrupted within the building’s footprint, and to create a habitat for native plants. The Library is sponsoring this Native Plant Project in partnership with Resource Environmental Solutions, the nation’s largest ecological restoration company; and North Dakota State University.

Within the Library there will be “narrative galleries,” as well as community spaces, a café, and an auditorium, which the Times pointed out would be large enough to host candidate debates during presidential election campaigns.

The Library “represents a transition we’re seeing in modern library and architectural design, where community spaces are being constructed with long-term sustainability in mind,” said Nick Milestone, Mercer’s Vice President of Projects and Construction, in a prepared statement.

In partnership with the project’s general contractor JE Dunn Construction, Mercer is providing mass timber design assistance, materials, and coordination and logistics. Other AEC firms involved in this project: Snøhetta (design and landscape architect), JLG Architects (AOR), Seagate (mass timber installation), Magnusson Klemencic Associates (Engineer of Record), and Command Industires (steel subcontractor).

The Library––which is four and a half hours north of Mount Rushmore and seven hours northeast of Yellowstone National Park––is targeting LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge certifications.  Its goal is to be net-zero energy, emissions, water, and waste.