The Woodland Resort on Devils Lake is celebrating the grand opening of its new Shores Venue event center.
The venue was made possible in part by a $1.75 million Destination Development Grant from the North Dakota Department of Commerce. Owner and President of Woodland Resort Kyle Blanchfield says the funding covers about 25 percent of the cost of the 13,000 square foot space right on the shores of Devils Lake. It’s surrounded by water on three sides. Consolidated Construction Company out of Bismarck led the project with local contractors.
The Woodland Resort first opened in 1988 as a small operation with four cabins, a modest campground and a bar/restaurant operating out of Blanchfield’s grandmother’s home. The last three decades have presented challenges for the business as water levels around the lake expanded and changed the landscape, but Blanchfield says it also helped the resort to reinvent itself. Devils Lake has become a premier fishery in the state and country, and Blanchfield says this creates endless opportunities for hosting visitors.
"Before we had this facility, we had fairly serious limitations on what we could do with groups, conferences, conventions, weddings and all that kind of stuff. I just didn't have enough quality indoor square feet to do much of anything; I've got a little meeting room in this building I can fit 25 people in, but that's all I had before. But to diversify what we do here, it was really a no brainer to look into this. We kind of have all our eggs in the fish basket right now - fishing and hunting is kind of what our primary thing is, this now allows us to do a whole lot of really fun stuff. "
Blanchfield says they applied for the grant in 2023, it was approved the following year, and ground broke for the event center last September. They hosted their first wedding with 400+ guests in June. He says the venue can host weddings, concerts, fishing tournaments, family reunions, conventions, or just about any other event one may like to hold on a lake.