Published On: December 6, 2018
An anonymous donor dropped of the following items at Klai Hall last week. They are a framed photograph of Klai Hall when it was Lincoln Mutual Life & Casualty Insurance Company. The other item was a shovel that was used for the groundbreaking of the building.
The Lincoln Mutual Life & Casualty Insurance Co. building was designed by Harold Bechtel, architect. The general contractors were J. E. Krieg & Sons, Sornsin Co., and Reger Electric Construction Co. Ground was broken on September 20, 1955. In 1995, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota moved into the building. NDSU took over the building in 2007 to house the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. A level was added to the top of the building, and it was completely renovated. In October 2008, Klai Hall was dedicated. The artifacts will be added to the NDSU Archives artifact collections.
"Ground was broken Tuesday for the new home office building of the Lincoln Mututal Life & Casualty Insurance Co. Officials shown taking part in the ceremonies are (left to right) C. C. Koltes, president; Lloyd Krieg, contractor; H. B. Kennelly, vice president; A. J. Jensen, insurance commissioner for North Dakota and Harold Bechtel, architect. In the center is Wendy Lee Peters, Jensen's five-year-old granddaughter." - caption with photograph published in the Fargo Forum & Daily Republican, September 21, 1955, p. 6. (51.234.5)